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HARTrORD IN HiSTOPY, 

A SCRIES or PAPERS 



RESIDENT 7\UTHOR5. 



EDITED BY 

V 



WILLIS I. TWITCH ELL, 

PRINCIPAL OF THE ARSENAL SCHOOL, 

HARTEORD, CONN. 






26851 



Copyrighted, 1899, by 
Willis I. Twitchell. 



TWO OOPIKS RECSIVBD, 




HARTFORD: 
Press of The Plimpton Mfg. Co. 



':^ ^ 



of 

flDr- ifrebedch f. Barrowe, 

wbo for fort^stwo isears wag 
tbe iprincipal of tbe 

3Brown Scbool, Ibarttorb, 

tbis book is 

2lfEcctionateli2 2)ct)tcatcD. 



^/^ 



^ CONTENTS. ^ 



PAGE 

Introduction 9 

Table of Anniversary Dates 12 

The Geographj^ and Geology of Hartford 13 

By W. H. C. Pynchon. 

The Indians of Hartford and Vicinity 23 

By Willis I. Twitchell. 

The Dutch in Hartford 39 

By Charles F. Johnson. 

Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford 49 

By WiLLisTON Walker. 

Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution... 66 
By Joseph H. Twichell. 

Social Lifie and Customs 82 

By Edwin P. Parker. 

Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut's Charter 99 

By W. DeLoss Love. 

Hartford the Capital 117 

By Henry C. Robinson. 

Hartford in Literature 134 

By Annie Eliot Trumbull. 



The Public Buildings of Hartford ; 156 

By Caroline M. Hkwins. 

Manufactures in Hartford 170 

By P. Henry Woodward. 

Historic Places in Hartford 184 

B3' Arthur L. Shipman. 

(See Map of Hartford, 1639-1798, facing page 9, prepared 
especially for the above article, by A. L. Washburn, 
, Del.) 

The Influence of Hartford in Public Affairs 197 

By Charles Hopkins Clark. 

Hartford in the Revolution 207 

By Mary K. Talcott. 

Hartford in the Civil War 221 

By Ira E. Forbes. 

Our City Government 235 

By William Waldo Hyde. 

The Duties of Citizenship 250 

By Charles Dudley Warner. 
Index 259 



INTRODUCTION. 



HARTFORD is rich in a history profitable for 
study. This is fully recognized in the an- 
nals of our county, state and nation, and 
in the writings of our best historians. 

If the material found in these larger works 
were adapted to the use of schools, there would 
be little excuse for this book. But it is not, and 
the purpose of the authors of '' Hartford in His- 
tory " has been to tell the story of our city's life 
in a way to interest and instruct the young. 

Primarily it is intended as a reading book 
for the school room, but that will make it none 
the less valuable in the family circle. The chil- 
dren of to-day are ' ^ reading to learn ' ' as well 
as learning to read, and whatever is profitable 
for them will be of interest and value to the 
adult. To him, the teacher, and the advanced 
pupils of the class, the bibliography given ^11 
be suggestive of a broader course of reading. 

Local history, as one of the studies of a pub- 
lic school curriculum, has a double value. It 
forms a logical basis for the study of the broad- 



1639 - 




F< 



QOHMl 



I 



Or/yifta/ tiifhwo/s art shewn in HCAVY LINCS 
ana /ti^hy^ays /»ta out since /S39, nvith aofc 
ef /oyot/f, /n OOTTCD U/^eS. 

>.z,. w asihbum , pel. 

£as«il upon, suruei/ of 



Hartford's Anniversary Days* 



November 9, 1635— Arrival of the Adventurers. 



May 10, 1637— Departure of Troops for Pequot War. 



Janttary J4, J639— Framing of the First Written Constitu- 
tion. 

April 23, 1662— Charter granted by Charles II. 



October % J662— Charter received and Hartford made 
Capital by Legislative Act. 



October 31, J687— Charter hidden in the Oak. 



June 29, J775— Washington's First Visit to Hartford, com- 
memorated by Tablet on Wadsworth Elm. 



September 2t, J 780— Meeting of Washington and Rocham- 
beau. 

May 29, J 784— City Charter granted by the State Legisla- 
ture. 

December IJ, J 844— Anaesthesia discovered by Dr. Horace 
Wells. 

September J7, J879— Battle-Flag Day. 



The Geography and Geology of Hartford. 

By W. H. C. Pynchon. 

THE eastern and the western portions of the 
State of Connecticut contain little that is 
of great geographical or geological interest 
as compared with the central portion— the re- 
gion in which Hartford hes. The rugged hills 
which compose the western, and, in a lesser de- 
gree, the eastern area, are formed of rocks re- 
sembling in many respects the group to which 
granite belongs— rocks which are very ancient, 
dating far back into the early history of the 
world. The riyers which flow among these hills 
haye open yalleys, showing that the portion of 
the land above sea-level has been practically un- 
changed for ages. But in the central portion of 
the State these ancient highlands sink down 
into a broad trough running from Long Island 
Sound far up into Massachusetts, and this 
trough is filled with rocks of much later date— 
whose history is one of the most interesting to 
be found in the great book of nature. 

Long ago, before man lived upon the earth, 
—when huge reptile forms, long since utterly 



13 



14 Hartford in History. 

passed away, clambered over the hills or 
roamed along the muddy shores, — this trough 
was filled by a great lake or an arm of the sea. 
Into its quiet Avaters ran streams from the sur- 
rounding hills, bringing down into the lake mud 
and sand from the land over which the^^ flowed. 
These sank to the bottom and formed there 
beds of sand and clay. 

Then a strange thing happened. Some- 
where in this region, which is now so peaceful, a 
volcano burst forth and rolled floods of molten 
lava over the whole area. This lava turned 
much of the water of the lake into steam, and, 
spreading itself over the beds of land-waste at 
the bottom, there cooled and hardened into 
rock. Three times and more has the lake lain 
in the trough, its bottom covered by beds of 
cla^^ and sand, and three times has the lava 
overflowed the region, for we find now in cen- 
tral Connecticut three great sheets of volcanic 
"trap" — as the rock is called — lying one above 
another, each one resting on beds of clay, sand 
or pebbles, now hardened into rocks known 
respectively as "shale," "sandstone" and 
' ' conglomerate. ' ' 

Now, how^ can we see these three layers of 
lava, if they lie one above another? How is it 



The Geography and Geolog}' of Hartford. 15 

that we can see more than the top one, even if 
we should find that there is no land-waste on 
top of that? It is in some such way as this: 
Long after the last lava had hardened, the re- 
gion w^as greatly disturbed and everything w^as 
tilted, so that the sheets of lava and the rocks 
lying between them, instead of hang horizontal, 
sloped strongly to the east. Since then there 
has been great wearing away of the land b^^ the 
w^eathering of the rocks, and the streams have 
carried away the land-waste to the sea. But 
the trap is much harder than the sandstone 
and shale, so that it stands up above the coun- 
try in high ridges running north and south. At 
the time that the rocks were tilted, thej^ were 
also greatly broken, so that vast fragments — 
miles in length — have beefi separated from each 
other in different' parts of central Connecticut. 
But for all this, the geologist finds plainly that 
these fragments belong to three different sheets 
of lava, w^hich mark three different periods of 
volcanic action. 

And now it may be justh^ asked, where in 
the vicinity of Hartford can be found any of 
these things which have been described? The 
eastern side of the trough is to be seen in the 
range of hills that forms the eastern horizon as 



16 Hartford in History 

far as the e^^e can see. They are perhaps the 
nearest at South Glastonbtir3^, and the visitor 
will quickly see that their rocks are very differ- 
ent from any to be found in the city of Hart- 
ford. The western edo^e is to be recognized in 
the great range of hills which runs on the west 
of Southington, Plain ville and Simsbury, and 
^which ma3' be plainly seen from Talcott Moun- 
tain. 

The second volcanic eruption v^as apparent- 
h^ the greatest, for it left a sheet of lava which 
is in some places 500 feet thick. It is the up- 
turned edge of this great sheet which forms the 
various "mountains" of central Connecticut. 
Good examples of these are Newgate Mountain, 
where ''Old Newgate" prison is located; Tal- 
cott Mountain; Farmington Mountain; the 
''Hanging Hills" of Meriden ; Lamentation 
Mountain, northeast of Meriden; Durham 
range, including Higby and Beseck Mountains 
and "Three Notches;" Totoket Mountain, in 
North Guilford, and Pond Rock, which is cut by 
the Shore Line Railroad at Lake Saltonstall. 
East and West Rocks, at New Haven, cannot be 
reckoned among these, as their history seems to 
be somewhat different from that of any of the 
mountains mentioned. 



The Geography and Geology of Hartford. 17 

Excellent examples for study may be found 
within the city limits. Cedar Mountain, or 
Newington Mountain, as it is sometimes called, 
is probably a part of the second sheet of lava, 
like the other mountains mentioned, while the 
ridge on w^hich Trinit3^ College stands probably 
belongs to the lava sheet formed by the third 
eruption. At this place the city stone quarries 
have laid bare the rocks, so that a careful study 
can be made of both the trap and the shale 
which lies under it. The floor of the quarry is 
composed of the shale which was once mud or 
clay, but has long since been hardened into 
rock. In these rocks may be found the rain 
prints and ripple marks \\^hich were made upon 
the mud ages ago, before the lava rolled over 
the region. As you go up the face of the cliff 
you find where the great mass of lava or 
'' trap," as it is commonly called, lies on top of 
the shale, and at the point of contact of the 
two you can see abundant steam-holes made by 
the steam which was formed \vhen the fiery 
mass rolled over the wet mud. 

It may perhaps be asked what creatures 
lived in those days ? Were there any fish in the 
v^aters? Were there any animals upon the 
land? There \v^ere fish, apparently much like 



18 Hartford in History. 

those of the present time. In the rocks at a 
number of places, notably at Westfield, at the 
north end of Higby Mountain, and at Totoket 
Mountain, in North Guilford, abundant scales of 
fishes are found and in man3^ cases the remains 
of the complete fishes so fully preserved that 
they can be studied and described. But perhaps 
the most remarkable remains of life, those which 
are certainly the most famous, are the so-called 
"Connecticut River Bird Tracks." These are 
foot-marks left in the mud of the ancient shores 
by the creatures that roamed over them long 
ago. The mud has long since hardened into 
shale, but the foot-marks remain intact to the 
present time. They are found in various parts 
of the valle3^, but probably' the most famous 
localities are Turner's Falls, in Massachusetts, 
and the great sandstone quarries at Portland, 
Connecticut. 

The tracks in many cases resemble those of 
turkeys, but are often as much as a foot in 
length. Careful study, however, shows that 
the3^ belonged, not to birds, but to huge reptile 
forms. Some of these appear to have walked 
almost entirely upon their hind legs, since the 
prints left by the small fore feet are onh^ occa- 
sionallj^ found. The most famous collection of 



The Geography and Geolog}- of Hartford. 19 

these tracks is to be seen at Amherst College. 
Yale and Wesleyan universities have also excel- 
lent collections, and some very good specimens 
are to be seen at Trinity College. 

There is one special localit\^ in the vicinity of 
Meriden which should not be left unmentioned. 
It is well known that in the early stages of a 
great volcanic eruption vast quantities of ashes, 
or, rather, fine dust, are thrown into the air 
from the crater. These settle again to the 
earth, sometimes at great distances, but they 
fall thickest in the neighborhood of the volcano. 
It was under such ashes that the city of Pom- 
peii, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, was buried. 
Sometimes, also, blocks of half-molten rock are 
cast into the air, falling to earth again among 
the ashes. The overflow of lava is normally 
one of the later phenomena of an eruption. At 
a place in the low ridge in front of Lamentation 
Mountain, now known far and wide as the Ash 
Bed, this -whole story of an eruption may be 
seen written in the rocks. At this place is a 
great bed of volcanic ashes, now hardened into 
a gray rock, and among them may be seen the 
masses of rock which were cast out, red-hot and 
smoking, by the forgotten volcano of long ago, 
while above the whole lies the lava-sheet that 



20 Hartford in History. 

\vas spread over the whole when the first iwry of 
the eruption had subsided. The weathering and 
the changes of the rocks have laid bare the 
whole record, and it may be read plainl3' in the 
low cliff which lies on the east of the New Haven 
turnpike, about two and' a half miles north of 
Meriden. There is some reason to believe that 
the location of one, at least, of the ancient vol- 
canoes Avas at Mount Carmel, north of New 
Haven. Later investigation, however, offers a 
second possible explanation of this locality. 

Long after the days of the volcanic action — 
when the surface of the land had assumed much 
of its present form, but still ages ago— in the 
time known as the Glacial Period, the region, in 
common with nearh^ all the northern United 
States, was covered by a great sheet of ice. The 
ice moved steadily southward, grinding down 
the surface of the country and carrying on the 
rock -waste with it in its resistless march. 
When finally the ice melted away, it left this 
waste scattered everywhere, and it may now be 
seen in the vast quantities of gravel and sand 
that overspread the whole region. It is only 
where the rocks project through this blanket of 
waste, or where we dig down to them, that we 
are able to study the real underlying structure 



The Geography and Geology of Hartford. 21 

of the region. A good example of the scratches 
which the glacier made upon the rocks as it 
passed over them may be seen at the head of 
Vernon street, in Hartford, just north of the 
steps that lead down to Zion street. 

Such is a very brief description of the won- 
derfully interesting region in which Hartford 
lies. This chapter gives but the barest outlines 
of the strange history through which the area 
seems to have passed. Therefore, for the use of 
those who desire to follow the subject still 
farther, there is appended a list of some few 
publications on the subject which may prove 
helpful. 

PUBLICATIONS. 

For a brief description of the geological 
structure and history of the region, and for brief 
notes on the fossil remains of fish : 

Two Belts of Fossiliferous Black Shale in the Trias- 
sic Formation of Connecticut. By W. M. Davis and 
S. Ward Leper. Bulletin of the Geological Society of 
America. Vol. II., pp. 415-430. 

For an exhaustive account of the same : 

The Structure of the Triassic Formation of the Con- 
necticut Valley. By William Morris Davis. Seventh 
Annual Report of the U. S. Geological Survev, 1888; pp. 
461-490. 



22 Hartford in History. 

Fossil Fishes and Fossil Plants of the Triassic Rocks 
OF New Jersey and the Connecticut Valley. By 
John S. Newburv. Monographs of the U. S. Geological 
Survey. Vol. XIV. 

Also: 
The Ash Bed at Meriden and its Structural Relations. 
Bv W. AI. Davis. Proceedings of the Meriden Scientific 
Association. Vol. III., 1889, pp. 23-30. 

For an explanation of geological terms : 
LeConte's Compend of Geology. 



The Indians of Hartford and Mcinitv. 



By Willis I. Twitchell. 

WHEN I was a schoolboy, nothing interested 
me more than the few stories about In- 
dians which my reading books contained. 
I liked to go with these children of the wood in 
imagination as they traveled the forest trail in 
search of game, shot the rapids in their frail 
canoes, and at nightfall sat by the camp fire and 
ate their meal of venison and fish. 

The fleet-footed Uncas, running the gauntlet 
or enduring with contemptuous scorn the suffer- 
ings inflicted upon him b^^ his enemies ; Hiaw^a- 
tha, the playmate of the tenants of the wood, as 
he '' learned their names and all their secrets," 
and the gentle-hearted Pocahontas, were to me 
the heroes of a people whose strange life I liked 
tostud3^ This is doubtless true of most school- 
bo3^s, and it is hoped that this story of the In- 
dians, who long 3^ears ago had their wigwams 
where some of your houses are now, will be of 
interest to the boys and girls of Hartford. 

It is true that the Indians do not occup^^ a 
large or very important place in the history of 

23 



24 Hartford in History. 

Hartford. This place was not the camping 
ground of a Massasoit, did not suffer the mid- 
night attack, the destruction of property and 
the terrible slaughter of men, women and chil- 
dren at the hands of the murderous Indian with 
his torch and scalping knife, as did the towns 
of Schenectad3^, Deerlield and Haverhill. But 
there Avere Indians here, and Hartford was sur- 
rounded by numerous hostile, warlike tribes, who 
were a continual menace to her existence. 

The reasons for her escape from a general 
massacre are doubtless to be found in the hon- 
orable treatment shown the Indians by the first 
settlers of Hartford in purchasing their lands, 
the wise forethought of her founders in making 
laws to regulate trade between the Indian and 
the white man, and their precaution to provide 
an efficient watch and a guard against the mid- 
night assault of these treacherous enemies. Cer- 
tain it is that a satisfactory^ knowledge 'of the 
history of Hartford must include the Indian. 

When the Rev. Thomas Hooker and his 
-partj came here in June, 1636, thcA- v^^ere wel- 
comed by the occupants of the region, who were 
known as the River Indians. This may seem 
strange to you. The histories teach that the 
Indian was the enemy of the v^hite man and 



The Indians of Hartford and Vicinity. 25 

that during the Pequot and King Philip's wars 
he tried to exterminate the EngHshman from 
the land. Then wh3^ should the red man of 
Suckiaug — for that was the Indian name of the 
place we now call Hartford — welcome Thomas 
Hooker? It was not because of love for his 
w^hite neighbor over in the Massachusetts Ba\^ 
Colony that he wished him to come here and 
settle. 

Then whj^? Let me tell you, for in the an- 
swer to this question you will get a partial in- 
sight into the Indian policy of the founders of 
Hartford and learn how your forefathers wisely 
made use of the condition of affairs that was 
the cause of the welcome in making these first 
owners of the soil serve them in their work of 
colonization. 

At first you will need to know the names 
and location of some of the tribes and clans in 
and about Hartford. The historian often uses 
the name River Indians when referring to the 
first inhabitants of this valley. The Indian 
name for this tribe was Sequins. Their territory 
was along both sides of the river, extending 
from Haddam to a short distance above Wind- 
sor. The chief sachem of this tribe was Sow- 
heag, whose seat of government w^as first at 



26 Hartford in History. 

Wethersfield and later located nearMiddletown. 
This tribe was divided into sub-tribes, or clans, 
each of which had its sagamore, who was sub- 
ject to the chief sachem, Sowheag. The present 
site of Hartford was occupied by the Suckiaug* 
Indians. They were one of the sub-tribes of the 
Sequins, and Sequassen, son of Sowheag, was 
their sachem. 

South of Hartford were the Mattabesets 
and Wongunks; on the north, the Mattanag or 
Windsor Indians ; the Tunxis clan, a sub-tribe 
of the Suckiaug Indians, occupied the present 
site of Farmington and vicinity; and to the east, 
across the river, lived the Podunks and the Hoc- 
canum Indians. These were the tribes who wel- 
comed the white men to this valley and sold 
them their lands during the first half of the sev- 
enteenth century. 

How many \vere there ? Writers who are 
considered authorities on this subject differ as to 
the size of the Indian population at this date. 
One says that the River tribes could furnish two 
thousand bowmen in 1670, and, of course, a 
larger number at the earlier date of 1636. An- 

*This name has a variety- of spellings — Sekioge, Sicaog, Suck 
iage and Suckiaug. I have selected the orthography that con- 
forms nearest to the Indian word it is derived from — sucki-auke — 
which, according to Dr. J. H. Trumbull, means black earth, the 
color of the soil of the Hartford meadows. 



\ 



The Indians of Hartford and Vicinity. 27 

other authority considens that six hundred war- 
riors for the River Indians is a Hberal estimate. 
This would make an Indian population of about 
three thousand for the valley. But this, even, is 
possibly too large an estimate, as the same 
writer states that the entire aboriginal popula- 
tion of the State could not have been more than 
seven thousand. 

And now that you have learned the names 
and location of the clans of the Sequins, or River 
Indians, their relation to each other and their 
approximate numbers, let us consider the rela- 
tion of this tribe to the other tribes of the State 
and bordering States, for therein lies the cause 
of the Indians' v^elcome to the white man. Had 
you lived in Hartford, or Suckiaug, as it was 
called at the time of w^hich we are writing, 
you might have seen coming over the western 
hills two old chieftains. Following them, you 
would have seen these chieftains go to the sa- 
chems of the different tribes along the river and 
receive from each one a quantity of w^ampum. 
Then you would have seen them turn westward 
again and continue their march until the^^ had 
reached the banks of the Hudson. Who were 
these Indians and why did the Sequins yield so 
readily to their demand for wampum ? 



28 Hartford in History. 

They were representatives of the Mohawks, 
a nation of the great Iroquois family, the most 
powerful in war of all the Indians of eastern 
North America. They had come to collect trib- 
ute, for the Mohawks had defeated the Sequins 
in battle and held them in subjection. To have 
refused the payment of the tribute would have 
meant war, defeat and destruction of their wig- 
v^^ams, and the Sequins knew it. 

And then you might have seen other chief- 
tains coming from the opposite direction, whose 
journey' had not been so long but whose mission 
v^^as the same. They came from the powerful 
Pequots, a branch of the Algonquin family, 
whose seat of government, previous to the com- 
ing of the white man, had been near Avhere 
Albany now stands and^vhere they were knowm 
as the Mohegan tribe. They had been driven 
from their camping ground on the Hudson by 
the more powerful Moha\vks and had taken 
forcible possession of the Thames valley in this 
State. The Pequots (destroA^ers or ravagers) 
were fierce fighters, as their new name implies, 
and in three successive battles they had defeated 
the Sequins. Thus the Sequins were under trib- 
ute both to the Mohawks and the Pequots. 
They needed aid, and therefore thcA^ welcomed 



The Indians of Hartford and Vicinity. 29 

the white man and sold him their land, for, ac- 
cording to the Indian laws of warfare, the white 
man who purchased their lands became their 
ally. 

But do not draw the conclusion that the In- 
dians' need was the cause of the w^hite man's 
coming to Suckiaug. He had other motiYCS 
than those of philanthropy, although they w^ere 
not antagonistic to the Indians' welfare. The 
soil of the valle^^ was fertile, the fur trade of the 
Indians profitable, and the Dutch, the rivals of 
the English, who had made a settlement at 
Suckiaug previous to the coming of the Hooker 
party, w^ere destined to become the owners of 
this fertile valley unless the English moved in 
and occupied it. There were other reasons why 
Mr. Hooker and his followers came here to 
establish a nev^ settlement in the wilderness, but 
thory will be given in other chapters. It is ours 
to stud3^ the Indian and his relation to the first 
settlers of Hartford. 

It is gratifying to know that our forefathers 
came into possession of their new home lands by 
honorable purchase rather than by forcible 
seizure. What the compensation was for these 
lands-, nov^ so valuable, we know not, but it 
probably consisted of cloth, axes, knives, kettles 



30 Hartford in History. 

and fancy ornaments, articles of little value to 
the English, but highly prized by the Indians. 
The transfer of titles to this valuable site was 
legal and just, according to the Englishman's 
standard of justice, but no doubt he drove a 
sharp bargain with the unlettered savage. 

The boundaries of the land thus purchased 
were nearly the same as those of Hartford of the 
present day, except on the west, where the line 
was six miles from the Connecticut River. The 
Rev. Samuel Stone and Elder William Goodwin 
acted as agents for theproprietorsof the colony, 
ninet3'-seven in number, and made the purchase 
direct from Sequassen, sachem of the Suckiaug 
Indians. The original deed has been lost, but a 
renewal for it, made in 1670, for a further con- 
sideration " to near the value the land was 
esteemed at before the EngHsh came into these 
parts," is still preserved and may be found at 
the library of the Historical Society. 

Although Edmund Andros said: "A title 
acquired from the Indians of unoccupied lands, 
nominally conveyed to sharp whites, was no 
better than the scratch of a bear's paw," yet 
this deed, like the famous charter, survived his 
royal government of 1687 and became the basis 
of all future transfers of these lands. The Indi- 



The Indians of Hartford and Vicinity. 31 

ans were removed to the South Meadows, the 
same place allotted to them b^^ the Dutch. For 
you must remember that the Dutch were here 
before the English and that they, too, had pur- 
chased the land from the Indians. However, it 
was not from the Suckiaug tribe, but from their 
conquerors, the powerful Pequots, that the 
Dutch had secured their title to these lands. 

And now, from this complicated state of 
affairs, j^ou are certainly beginning to get an in- 
sight into some of the causes of thePequot war. 
The settlement of Hartford by the English, like 
that of Windsor and Wethersfield and the build- 
ing of the fort at Saybrook, had been made 
without consulting the Pequots. Their enemies, 
a weak tribe under tribute to them, had sold to 
the English their lands and thus secured them 
as allies. Unless the English could be exter- 
minated from the valle3^, this meant that the 
Pequots must lose their tribute from the Se- 
quins and become subjects themselves to the 
English. Murder and pillage began before the 
colony was a j^ear old. ' Wethersfield, being 
more accessible to the Pequot country, suffered 
the most. There nine men were murdered and 
tv^o girls carried into captivity bySassacus and 
his warriors. 



32 Hartford in History. 

A complete narrative of the Pequot war be- 
longs to the larger history of the State, Here 
we can speak only of Hartford's part in it. Of 
the ninety" men sent to this war b^^ the three 
river towns, Hartford furnished fort^^-two. The 
Rev. Samuel Stone, assistant pastor of the Cen- 
ter church, was the chaplain. Seventy friendly 
Indians, led by the Mohegan chief, Uncas, went 
as allies to the English, but little reliance could 
be placed in them. 

It was from Hartford that this little army 
of one hundred and sixty started on its voyage 
down the river in pink, shallop, pinnace and In- 
dian canoes. This was the first of many similar 
occasions when the people of Hartford have as- 
sembled to witness the departure of her brave 
sons for war, but none could have been more 
solemn and impressive than this home leaving 
of May 10th, 1637. Gathered on the river front 
ere the mothers, wives and kindred of the 
soldiers ; in the boats, laden with provisions and 
implements of Avar, v^^ere the volunteers and 
their Indian allies, all with bowed heads, w^hile 
the Rev. Thomas Hooker commended them to 
divine protection and bade the little army ''in 
martial power to fight the battles of the Lord 
and of his people." 



7'he Indians of Hartford and Vicinity. 33 

Those were dark days for the infant settle- 
ment, and the demand for courage, self-sacrifice 
and wise management upon this little company 
of pioneers in a strange land was great. The 
departure of a majority of their able-bodied 
men, their equipment in provisions and arms, 
left the women and children open to an attack 
by the lurking savage and called upon them to 
exercise the strictest of economy. 

But the war was waged to a successful 
issue, the Pequots were exterminated and the 
proprietors of the town showed their apprecia- 
tion of the valiant service of the forty-two men 
who went to the war by granting to them a 
tract of twenty-eight acres of land, the allot- 
ment to each individual being made according 
to his rank, term of service, and possibly for 
meritorious conduct in the field. It was known 
as ^Soldiers' Field ; was bounded on the east by 
the North Meadow creek and extended noi h 
from the foot of Pleasant street to a point a 
little above Canton street, at an average width 
of thirtv-five rods. It is believed that this is the 



*See paper, "Soldiers' Field and Its Original Proprietors," by 
Mr F. H. Parker, at library of State Historical Society. 

When at the librarv, ask to be shown the sword with which 
Sergeant William Hayden is said to have cut an Indian's bow 
string as he was about to shoot Captain John Mason. 



34 Hartford in Historj-. 

first bounty paid to American soldiers for ser- 
vice in AA^ar. 

If you had lived in Hartford the next year 
after the close of the war and gone to the meet- 
ing house September 21st, you would have seen 
a notable gathering of Indian chiefs and repre- 
sentative members of the English colonists of 
Connecticut. The Narragansett and Mohegan 
Indians, who were allies of the English in the 
w^ar, could not agree as to the disposition of the 
Pequot prisoners. The convention was called 
for the purpose of making a covenant between 
the two tribes and the colonists. Miantonomi 
represented the Narragansetts and Uncas was a 
delegate from theMohegans. John Haynes and 
Edward Hopkins, the first and second governors 
of the colony-, respectiveh^ both residents of 
Hartford, and Roger Ludlow, were empowered 
to act for the colonists. The following terms of 
agreement will show 3-ou that the white man 
not onh^ became the Indian's victor in battle 
but his arbitrator and lawmaker in civil life. 
They provide : 

1. ''That there shall be peace between the 
tribes, and all former injuries and wrongs of- 
fered each other remitted and buried." 

2. "That if further wrong be committed by 



The Indians of Hartford and Vicinity. 35 

either party they shall not revenge them, but 
shall appeal to the English, who shall decide be- 
tween them. If either party refuse to abide by 
the decision, the English may compel submis- 
sion." 

3. '' The tribes mentioned agree to bring in 
the chief sachem of the Pequots ; and for the 
murderers known to haye killed the English, 
they shall as soon as they can possibly take off 
their heads." 

4. ' ' Provides for the division of the Pequot 
prisoners, who shall no more be called Pequots, 
but Narragansetts and Mohegans." 

But this did not end the trouble. The Nar- 
ragansett plot of 1642 compelled our Hartford 
forefathers again to renew their watchfulness 
and strengthen their defenses against the In- 
dians. It was discovered that the Sequins and 
the Narragansetts had combined to destroy the 
English. The General Court ordered that com- 
munication be opened with the Bay colony for 
the purpose of securing their aid ; that the clerk 
be ordered to inspect the arms of the Train 
Band ; that the inhabitants shall not allow any 
Indians to come into their houses ; that the 
magistrate alone may admit a sachem to his 
house and he must not have more than two men 



36 Hartford in History. 

with him ; and that a guard of fort^^ armed men 
shall attend ever^^ Sabbath and lecture-day ser- 
vice. 

These precautions were effective, the plot 
failed and the residents of early Hartford had 
reason, as the^^ often have since, to be thankful 
for the wise forethought and unity of action of 
her lawmakers. But these men were accustomed 
to making such laws. Had you been one of the 
children of the Hooker partv and frequented the 
town meetings, or the meetings of the General 
Court, you would have heard the Indian ques- 
tion frequently debated and learned that much 
of the time of these two assemblies was taken in 
passing laws regulating the relationship be- 
tween the white man and the Indian. 

According to these laws, every male citizen 
over sixteen years of age, except certain civil and 
church officers, was to serve his allotted time as 
sentr\', ready to give the alarm, da^^ or night, from 
his sentry box in the crotch of a tree, so tradition 
says, at the approach of the marauding savage ; 
the Indian must not use fire-ariTis,nor the white 
man sell him gun or powder; the attendants 
upon church services must be protected by an 
armed guard ; the Indians were forbidden to 
enter the town in squads or to visit it at night- 



The Indians of Hartford and Vicinity. 37 

time, even singly; and the colonists were pro- 
hibited selling them a dog, going to their 
wigwams to trade, or settling among them in 
the South Meadows, where the^^ were located. 

These laws were principally in the interests 
of the white man, but our forefathers also pro- 
vided for the protection, education and civiliza- 
tion of the Indian. In 1654 the General Court 
ordered that : 

''Notwithstanding previous provision to 
the same end had been made — it having failed 
because there v^^as no interpreter — John yijnor 
do come to Hartford and under the instruction 
of Mr. Stone be prepared to interpret the 
preaching of the gospel to the Indians." 

B3' order of the church, delegates went 
among the Indians periodicalh^ to teach them 
the principles of the Christian faith. In 1657, 
John Elliot, the famous apostle to the Indians, 
came to Hartford and preached the gospel to 
the Podunks, addressing them in their own lan- 
guage. But the endeavors of this earh^ period 
to elevate the Indian to the white man's stand- 
ard of living w^ere Y^ry meagre, and correspond- 
ingly unavailing. The Podunks' reph^ to John 
Elliotts invitation to accept the gospel, was : 
''No; you English have taken awa^^ our lands, 



38 Hartford in History. 

and now you want to make us a race of 
slaves." 

However, we have no reason to be ashamed 
of the treatment that the Indians received from 
the founders of Hartford. It was wise and 
humane, when judged b^^ the standard of that 
period. Had the nation done as well by the 
first owmers of the soil, doubtless the " Century 
of Dishonor" would have been limited in time 
and degree, and the era of free education to the 
Indian, the opening of the schools at Hampton 
and Carlisle, would have been hastened. 

The following books have been used in the 
preparation of this article and are recommended 
to the reader wishing to give the subject a 
broader study : 

Colonial Records of Connecticut. 

Hubbard's Indian Wars. 

Roger Williams' letters in the Publications of the 
Narragansett Club. 

Barbour's Connecticut Historical Collections. 

Hartford in Olden Times, Scaeva. 

Memorial History of Hartford County, J. H. 
Trumbull. 

Mather's Magnalia. 

Johnston's Connecticut, in American Commonwealth 
Series. 

Mason's History of the Pequot War. 

DeForest's Indians of Connecticut. 

Connecticut Historical Society Collections. 



The Dutch in Hartford. 



By Charles F. Johnson. 

IN the fifteenth century, and indeed down to 
our own time, the discovery of lands ''unoc- 
cupied by Christian people" was held to en- 
title the sovereign of the discoverer to the right 
of occupation without an^^ reference to the 
claims of the original inhabitants. Savages 
had no rights that civilized people w^ere bound 
to respect. So when in 1497 John Cabot and 
his son Sebastian sailed along the main land of 
North America from the Bay of the St. Law- 
rence down to the Chesapeake Bay, possibly as 
far as Florida, King Henry YII. at once assert- 
ed sovereignty over the main continent of North 
America, although the Cabots had made no 
landing except in the northern part of what is 
now the State of Maine. On this rather un- 
certain foundation King James I. early in the 
seventeenth century issued patents for the unex- 
plored territory between the thirty-fourth and 
forty-fifth parallels of latitude. One of these 
was given to the Plymouth Company, and un- 
der this the settlements in Massachusetts were 



40 Hartford in History. 

made. As the country was unexplored, it can 
readily be understood that the boundaries of 
the territory granted in the patents were badh' 
defined. Frequently the grants overlapped each 
other and the lines ran indefinitely west into the 
unkno^m \Aalderness, and disputes arose about 
the right to certain tracts. 

In 1609 Hendrick Hudson, an Englishman 
in the service of Holland, entered the Bay of 
Manhattan in, search of a passage westward 
through the continent, by which he might reach 
Asia or the East Indies. The North River he 
took to be an arm of the sea and sailed up the 
great channel till th^ increasing freshness of the 
water convinced him that it was realh' a river. 
He gave it the name of the Hudson and asserted 
that his discovery gave Holland a right of 
sovereignty superior to the shadowy claim of 
England. A trading post was established at 
the lower end of Manhattan Island, where the 
Indians could exchange skins for beads and 
knives. This vcas the foundation of the city of 
New York. In 1614 Adrian Block and Corne- 
lius Hendricksen built a small sloop at New Am- 
sterdam, as the station was called, and sailed into 
Long Island Sound and went up the Connecticut 
at least as far as the present site of Hartford. 



The Dutch in Hartford. 41 

Block gave names to the rivers and bays, calling 
the site of New Haven ' ' Rodenburgh " or the 
Red Hills, and the great river, the '^ Fresh Riv- 
er." To Block Island he gave his own name. 
On his report to the States General, or Congress 
of Holland, a company ^was formed for trading 
in the New Netherlands, as the newly discovered 
territor\^ was called. This company was subse- 
quently absorbed b^^ the Dutch East India 
Company. The object of the enterprise Avas 
primarily the purchase and exportation of the 
skins of bears, otter, mink and wildcat. As no 
considerable portion of the Dutch people were 
persecuted on account of their religious organ- 
ization, there was no reason why well-to-do 
people should leave their homes and settle per- 
manently in the wilderness, as many English- 
men w^ere forced to do. However, by degrees 
the Hollanders settled on the Hudson as far as 
Albany and in the western part of Long Island. 
In 1623 these Hollanders founded a trading 
post at w^hat is still known as Dtitch Point, in 
the city of Hartford, on the north side of Little 
River, now known as the Park River. The 
original site has been largely washed away bj^ 
the floods. The first establishment was no 
doubt a stockade or fence of stakes enclosing a 



42 Hartford in History. 

rudely-btiilt "block house" or log house. By 
1633 it had grown into a small fort with earth- 
en w^alls (probably) enclosing several buildings 
and provided w4th a small cannon. A ship-load 
of bricks brought from Holland was used in the 
construction, and it has been suggested that the 
'^fort" was an earthwork with brick or stone 
corners. On the other hand the bricks ma^^ have 
been used for chimneys in the buildings within 
the enclosure. One of these Dutch bricks was 
found near the spot by Mr. Charles J. Hoadley, 
the antiquarian. Others are doubtless covered 
b^^ the mud in the Connecticut River. 

For the purpose of satisfying the aboriginal 
tribes and gaining their good will, and perhaps 
with the idea of getting a color of title, the 
settlers, both English and Dutch, were in the 
habit of hujmg for a nominal consideration 
land from the Indians. In 1633 Jacob Van Cur- 
ler, commissary of the post, acting under the 
command of Wouter Van Twiller, director or 
governor of the New Netherlands, bought of the 
Pequot Indians certain lands described as a 
" flat called Suckiage (or black earth) one league 
dowm from the river a third of a league wide to 
the Highland and be3^ond the Hill upwards ex- 
tending to a little stream." The price paid was 



The Dutch in Hartford. 43 

*'one piece of duftell* 27 ells long, 6 axes, 6 kettles, 
18 knives, 1 sword-blade, 1 pair of shears, some 
toys and a musket." The land must have cov- 
ered most of the present city of Hartford. It 
will be noticed that the title of the Dutch by dis- 
covery and purchase \vas as good as that of the 
English. Their weakness was that they did not 
occupy and cultivate more than a small portion 
of the land, their primary object being not col- 
onization but the purchase of furs. 

This fort w^as called the '^ House of Hope." 
In translations it is variously called " Fort Good 
Hope," and the *' Dutch House, the Hope." In 
1633 it sheltered quite a number of people, in- 
cluding women and children, in all possibly 
thirty souls. It was surrounded by a "bouwerie" 
or cultivated farm and garden of about twenty- 
five acres. After the arrival of the English col- 
om^, claiming under the English king and later 
under a deed from the River Indians, disputes 
arose as a matter of course, and the Dutch seem, 
as the weaker party, to have been restricted to 
the ''bouwerie" and perhaps interfered wdth 
even within its limits. The land records of the 
town of Hartford preserve the record of the 



*DuflFell is a heavy woolen fabric. "Good duffel graj- and 
flannel fine." — Wordsworth, "Goody Blake and Harry Gill." 



44 Hartford in History. 

property finally appropriated when the Dutch 
left. The records mention "36 acres in the 
South Meadows," including without doubt the 
present site of the Colt works, three acres on 
the north side of Little River and an island in 
the great river. We may fairly conclude that 
this was the Dutch ''bouwerie" or "plantation." 
The English colony under the leadership of 
their pastor, the Rev. Thomas Hooker, arrived 
overland from Cambridge in 1636. They came 
to make homes in the Connecticut Valley, and 
acquired an Indian title from Sequassen, chief of 
the River Indians, for the territory bounded by 
the river from Windsor to Wethersfield and run- 
ning six miles back. In the midst of this, lay the 
Dutch fort and "bouwerie." The Dutch claimed 
that the Pequots were the masters of the River 
Indians and that the River Indians had ac- 
quiesced in the transfer of the land to them. It 
Avas of course impossible that friction should 
not result. Each considered the other as en- 
croaching and petty collisions over disputed 
lands ensued, resulting in broken heads and bad 
feelings. Both parties seem to have acted with 
forbearance, however, and as the English were 
much the more numerous credit must be given 
them that bloodshed did not follow. Tliev wor- 



The Dutch in Hartford. 45 

ried along as well as the\^ could till 1649, when 
the commissioners of the united colonies decreed 
that foreigners should be prohibited from trad- 
ing with the Indians. The reason for this decree 
was doubtless the fear that the Indians might 
acquire muskets and ammunition. Next 3^ear 
both parties petitioned that the boundaries of 
their jurisdiction might be settled. In conse- 
quence commissioners from the English colonies 
met Peter Stuy vesant, governor of New Amster- 
dam, at Hartford. The conference Avas courte- 
ously conducted and resulted in making the 
Little River the boundary between the contend- 
ing parties. But in 1653 war was being waged 
between Holland and England and the American 
colonies were authorized by Parliament to open 
hostilities against the Dutch. Captain JohnUn- 
derhill, bearing a commission from the Prov- 
idence Plantation, came to Hartford and pasted 
the following notice on the doors of the '' House 
of Hope": 

''I, John Underbill, do seize this house and 
land for the State of England, by virtue of the 
commission granted bj^ the Providence Planta- 
tion." 

Soon after, the General Court of Connecticut 
sequestered the Dutch property in Hartford by 



46 Hartford in History. 

its own authorit3\ In a few months after this 
peace was declared ; the Dutch, or nearh' all of 
them, moved to New York. Underhill conve^-ed 
the real estate to two citizens of Hartford and 
the name ' ' Dutch Point ' ' was about all that re- 
mained to testify to the former occupation of 
land in the city of Hartford by citizens of Hol- 
land. 

Some of the Hollanders living at the '* House 
of Hope " were men of superior education. Cas- 
per Varleth, Gysbert Opdyck, Go vert Locker- 
man and David Provoost were all men of sub- 
stance and became prominent citizens of New 
Amsterdam. The Hollandish race is closely 
allied to the Anglo-Saxons and its members pos- 
sess many of the sturdy virtues of their kindred 
on the other side of the channel. The common 
idea of the Dutch as phlegmatic, corpulent boors, 
stupefied and stultified by tobacco, is absurd. 
It resulted from Washington Irving's amusing 
caricature in "Knickerbocker's Historv of New 
York." The Dutch settlers would have added a 
very valuable element could they have been in- 
corporated into the Hartford Colony. Less 
energetic and determined than the English Puri- 
tans, thcA^ were no less courageous and capable, 
and more courteous and social. But such a 



The Dutch in Hartford. 47 

mixture could not well result at that time. The 
Puritans, even the liberal Puritans of Hartford, 
wanted no citizens not of their own church and 
blood. The^^ persistently crowded the Dutch 
out, and we must give them great credit that 
they did not resort to more violent and arbi- 
trary means than they used. Without great 
self-control and a strong sense of justice, two 
rival colonies in the wilderness, far from all the 
restraints of civilization or the fear of being- 
called to account, would have come at once into 
armed conflict. That they did not do so at Hart- 
ford speaks well for both Dutch and English, 
but especialh^ well for the stronger party. Hol- 
land had long been a refuge for the persecuted 
Puritans of England, audit is possible that some 
of the leading men of the Hooker Colony cher- 
ished grateful feelings towards that country, but 
even that would detract little from the honor 
due them for treating Dutchmen whom they re- 
garded as intruding on their heritage with sub- 
stantial justice while they were alone with them 
in the wilderness for t\venty years. 

The following books are recommended to 
those who desire to give additional study to the 
subject, The Dutch in Hartford : 
Memorial History of Hartford County. Vol. I., chap. H. 



48 Hartford in History. 

Trumbull, B,, History of Connecticut. Vol. T. (edition of 
1898 is the best.) 

Colonial Records of Connecticut. Vols. I.-III. 

Brodhead,J.R., History OF THE St ATE of New York. Vol. I. 

O'Callaghan, E. B., History of New Netherland. Vol. I. 

Palfrey, J. G., History of New England. Vol. HI. 

Documents Relative to the Colonial History of New 
York, passim. 

Memorial History of the City of New York. Vol. I. 

Winsor, J., Narrative and Critical History of America. 
Vols, in.-iv. 

New York Historical Society: Collections, second series, 
Vol. I. (translations of several Dutch tracts.) 

Smith, W., History of the Province of New York. 

Johnson, Ellen P., The House of Hope, or the First of 
Connecticut's Settlers. 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement 
of Hart ford- 



By WiLLiSTON Walker. 

TO UNDERSTAND the reasons which led the 
founders of Hartford to leave their English 
homes and to cross the Atlantic to what 
was then a wilderness scantily occupied by 
Indian tribes, we must picture to ourselves a 
very different state of affairs from that which 
exists in England or in the United States to-day. 
Now, in both these countries, in spite of the fact 
that the older nation still has an established 
church, men can worship God in whatever way 
seems best to them, provided that they do not 
trespass on the rights of their neighbors in so 
doing. In both countries, moreover, bodies 
composed of representatives chosen by the votes 
of a large proportion of the people themselves 
now have a decisive voice in almost all impor- 
tant political questions. 

But it was not so when the founders of 
Hartford left England. The sovereigns of the 
Tudor line which ruled England from 1485 to 
1603, of whom the ablest were King Henry 

49 



50 Hartford in History. 

VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, have often been called 
absolute rulers. The description is essentially a 
true one, for, though Parliament then existed 
much in the same form that it now does, its 
power was slight, while the wishes of the sov- 
ereign were almost certain to be carried out, so 
great Avas the royal authority. Under Henry 
VIII. the English Church had rejected the control 
of the Pope, and, aided by Parliament, had rec- 
ognized the King as its administrative head. 
After some alternations of the parties in control 
of English ecclesiastical affairs under Edward 
VI. and Alary, that church had been constituted 
by Elizabeth substantially as it now exists in 
England, with a prescribed form of worship in 
the English language and essentialh^ the same 
officers that it had possessed while recognizing 
the authoritv of the Pope. 

Queen Elizabeth insisted upon a uniform 
type of worship in all parts, and b3' all inhab- 
itants, of her kingdom. There was nothing ex- 
ceptional in this requirement, for the same 
demand was made in all countries of Europe, at 
the time when she began her reign, though the 
forms of Avorship to which conformity was re- 
quired were not the same in all lands. Alore- 
over, in the various changes which the English 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford. 51 

Church underwent, too little care was taken to 
see that the clergymen were learned and worthy 
men. ^lanj of them were so, but some were 
not. Grounds for criticism and for objection on 
the part of those who did not agree with the 
great Queen in her religious policy therefore ex- 
isted from the opening years of her reign. Alany 
of the people of England were more ardently 
Protestant than Elizabeth, and conscientiously 
believed that some features of the organization 
and worship of the Church of England which she 
supported were wrong. Not a few of the Puri- 
tans, as these objectors to Elizabeth's impositions, 
were nick-named b3^ reason of their strictness of 
belief and practice, held that the Bible la^^s down 
rules showing how the church ought to be or- 
ganized and governed, and that to fail to follow 
these rules there supposed to be found is a sin. 

These men and women sought to modif\^ the 
usages of the Church of England so as to make 
that institution more nearly what they believed 
that a church ought to be, to enjoy the preach- 
ing that the3^ preferred, and to have everywhere 
a learned and worthy ministrj^ But Elizabeth 
and her advisers vigorously repressed all depar- 
ture from the forms of worship and of organiza- 
tion which she approved. 



52 Hartford in History. 

Thus Opposed by the government, the Puri- 
tan partA^ developed two sections. One of these 
was small and radical, called the Separatists, 
because they believed that good people should 
separate at once from the Church of England 
and organize churches themselves on what the^^ 
held to be the Biblical model. The other section, 
the Puritans proper, was large and compara- 
tively^ conservative. Though holding substan- 
tially the same views as to worship as the 
Separatists, they believed in a national church 
and looked to slow agitation and governmental 
action to introduce the reforms the^^ desired. 
Both sections were rigorously repressed by 
Elizabeth and her clerical advisers. 

When the great, arbitrary and popular Queen 
died in 1603, and was succeeded by James I., of 
the house of Stuart, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, 
the Puritans and Separatists alike hoped for 
favor from the new monarch. In this expecta- 
tion th&y were grievously disappointed. A Sep- 
aratist company, worshipping at Scroob\^ in 
Nottinghamshire and including Rev. John Rob- 
inson, William Brewster and William Bradford, 
was compelled to flee for safety to Holland in 
1607 and 1608, from which land they emigrated 
to America in 1620, settling at Plymouth in 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford. 53 

December of that year. These Scrooby Separa- 
tists and their associates are known as the Pil- 
grims in New England story. 

But, while some of the Separatists thus earh^ 
left their home land, most of the Puritans proper 
remained in England. James I., far from grant- 
ing the religious changes that they desired, har- 
assed their preachers as Elizabeth had done. 
James, unlike Elizabeth, was himself personally 
unpopular. This unpopularity was increased 
b^^ his assertion of what was called the " divine 
right of kings "parties claiming that his power 
came from God in such a sense that he was in no 
way responsible to his people for its use. Fur- 
ther grounds of disfavor were his preference for 
unworthy favorites, his arbitrary taxation, his 
refusal to allow Parliament to discuss important 
questions of public concern, and a foreign polic3^ 
totalh^ at variance with the wishes of the vast 
majority of his subjects. 

James I. died in 1625, and was succeeded b3^ 
his son, Charles L, a man of fewer talents though 
of more outward polish than James, but fulh^ as 
absolute in his conception of the authorit^^ that 
a king should enjoy and even more arbitrary in 
his acts. Under certain friends and servants of 
Charles L, notabh^ William Laud, whom the 



54 Hartford in History. 

King caused to be appointed bishop of London 
in 1628 and archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, 
the Puritans were more vigorously persecuted 
than they had been at any time before, the ob- 
ject being to secure perfect conformit^^ to legal 
requirements in the worship of God throughout 
England. Puritan ministers were fined, impris- 
oned, or compelled to seek safety in flight. At 
the same time Charles quarrelled with his parlia- 
ments even more bitterly than his father had 
done; and, in 1629, resolved to dispense with 
parliamentary aid altogether, in order to rule 
and tax as he pleased without interference. 

The result of this attitude on the part of the 
King and his supporters and agents was that 
many who desired religious reforms and consti- 
tutional government in England (and tliCA^ were 
in general the same people who sought both 
these changes), planned to cross the Atlantic to 
New England, whither the Pilgrims had already 
shown the way. These men and women were 
not actuated in this resolution by any abstract 
love of general liberty. They had no thought of 
founding in the new world a community where 
every one could do as he pleased so long as he 
did not interfere with the rights of his neighbors. 
They had not advanced as far at that. Thev 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford. 55 

believed that they were unjusth^ oppressed both 
b^^ church and state in England. They wished a 
more democratic government in church and 
state ; and the\^ wanted to go where they could 
be on English soil and yet be free to found the 
institutions which seemed to them right. That 
those institutions have proved exceedingly 
favorable to libert3^ in general is due to the 
strongh^ democratic element which the founders 
of New England infused into them. This 
element in time has developed its natural fruit- 
age in such freedom as we enjoy. 

Resolved for these reasons to leave their 
native land, some of the Puritans crossed the 
Atlantic under the leadership of John Endicott, 
landing at Salem, Alass., in September, 1628. 
While these emigrants were la^nng the founda- 
tions of this colony, many Puritans in England 
became interested in the enterprise, and a ro^^al 
charter was obtained, in March, 1629, organiz- 
ing some of these men into a colonizing company 
^the ''Governor and Company of the Massa- 
chusetts Ba3^" Under the auspices of this com- 
pan^^ many emigrants \vere speedily sent across 
the Atlantic. Rev. Francis Higginson and Rev. 
Samuel Skelton with a party of about four hun- 
dred came to Salem in 1629. In 1630, John 



56 Hartford in History. 

Winthrop, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Isaac John- 
son, Thomas Dudley, Simon Bradstreet, John 
Wilson, George Phillips, John Warham, Roger 
Ludlow, and other Puritan clergymen and la^^- 
men of character and prominence crossed the 
Atlantic. No less than a thousand inhabitants 
were added that ^-ear to New England, and the 
towns of Boston, Dorchester and Watertown, 
in Massachusetts, were settled. With the com- 
ing of these conspicuous emigrants, the charter 
and government of the Massachusetts company 
was transferred to New England, which was 
thus assured from the first a large measure of 
self-government. All Puritan England followed 
the fortunes of the enterprise with eager interest ; 
and many, encouraged by the success of their 
friends, determined to cross the ocean as they 
had done. 

One such company of acquaintances actuated 
by a common purpose, principallj^ from the 
county of Essex, in England, reached New^ Eng- 
land in 1632, and settled first in what is now 
Quinc3% Alass., from which place in August 
of the same A-ear it removed to Cambridge, 
Mass., then known as Newtown. This com- 
pany, though b^^ no means including all who 
aided in the foundation of Hartford, or, indeed, 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford. 57 

all the inhabitants of Ne\\i:own, formed the 
nucleus, in a certain sense, of the later settlers 
of Hartford. The company of immigrants was 
anticipating the arrival as its minister of a man 
whom many of them had knovsrn and reverenced 
in England, Rev. Thomas Hooker, to whom 
Connecticut owes more than to any other of its 
early citizens, 

Thomas Hooker was born, probablv in 
1586, at Marfield, a hamlet in Leicestershire, 
England. He graduated at the strongly Puri- 
tan Emmanuel College of Cambridge University 
in 1608, and, after holding a fellowship in that 
college for some years, he settled at Esher, in 
Surrey, till, about 1625, he became a "lecturer" 
at Chelmsford , in Essex. From this region many 
of the associates v^ho settled at the Nev^ Eng- 
land Cambridge in 1632 were to come, doubt- 
less through his influence. A "lectureship," as 
it v^as styled, w^as a salaried appointment as 
preacher supplementary to the legal incumbent 
of the parish. Its income was derived usualh^ 
from the gifts of the generous, for the "lecturer " 
had no claim to the ordinary church tithes and 
taxes recognized by the State. Manj^ such "lec- 
tureships " were founded by the Puritans to 
secure the preaching that they desired, but 



58 Hartford in History. 

which the regular ministry, supported by gov- 
ernment authority, did not provide. At Chelms- 
ford, Hooker preached with great popular 
encouragement till, about the close of 1629, the 
opposition of Bishop Laud made his further 
labor impossible — an opposition which com- 
pelled him, in 1630, to fly for safet3' to Holland. 
From Holland he set forth for New- England, by 
w^ay of his native countr^^, in 1633, reaching Bos- 
ton on September 4th of that A-ear. In Hooker 
early Connecticut was to have not mereh' a 
powerful preacher and moulder of religious opin- 
ion, but a far-seeing statesman, of more demo- 
cratic tendencies than any other of the founders 
of New England, who perceived clearly that the 
people are the ultimate source of all rightful 
governmental authority, and was able to im- 
press this thought on his associates. His life in 
Hartford embraced but eleven years, for he died 
July 7, 1647 ; but these A'-ears saw the founda- 
tions of Connecticut laid. 

We m^y well wish that a portrait of this 
strong, far-sighted, courageous, humble-minded, 
impulsive, yet self-controlled man had been pre- 
served. We can not imagine him as other than 
forceful in personal appearance, as he was evi- 
dentl3^ in public address and in less formal inter- 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford. 59 

course with his fellow-men. But, in the absence 
of SiUy likeness of Hooker, the statue by Niehaus 
of this leader among the founders of Connecti- 
cut, which adorns the eastern front of the Ca]Di- 
tol, probably gives as satisfactory a conception 
of him as imagination and patient study of 
family resemblances among his descendants and 
of contemporary costume can evoke. 

On the same vessel that brought Hooker to 
New England two other men of much impor- 
tance for the earh' history of Hartford were 
passengers. These were Rev. Samuel Stone and 
Mr. John Ha^^nes. 

Samuel Stone, beloved enough of the early 
inhabitants of Hartford to have the name of his 
birthplace given to their Connecticut home, 
was thirty-one years old at the time of his arri- 
val in the New World. Like Hooker, he had 
graduated at Emmanuel College of Cambridge 
University. He had probably been a curate at 
Stisted, near Chelmsford, at the time that 
Hooker preached as "lecturer" in the last 
named place. He had certainly held a Puritan 
lectureship at Towcester, in Northamptonshire, 
till about the time that the invitation of Hook- 
er's w^aiting friends in New England led him to 
embark with that minister as Hooker's future 



60 Hartford in History. 

lifelong associate. A man of great clearness of 
thought and marked power in argument, of wit, 
and quickness as well as strength ofmind, he was 
a leader of force, though not of the ability or of 
the conciliatory skill of Hooker. He survived 
the latter sixteen years, dying in 1663. 

John Haynes from Copford Hall, in Essex, 
was a "gentleman " in the then somewhat tech- 
nical sense of that word. He was a man of 
large property and much executive force, whose 
talents v^^ere at once recognized in New England, 
he being chosen governor of Massachusetts in 
1635, and of Connecticut every alternate year 
from 1639 till his death in 1654. All three of 
these men of influence in the beginnings of Hart- 
ford were buried in the old Hartford graveyard, 
and monuments commemorative of them may 
be seen within its enclosure near the rear of the 
First (Center) Church. 

Soon after the arrival of Hooker and Stone 
at Cambridge, Mass., they were chosen, on Oc- 
tober 11, 1633, respectively '^ pastor " and 
"teacher" of the infant church of that commu- 
nity ; while William Goodwin, a man of much 
influence then and in the early history of Hart- 
ford, held the office of " ruling-elder," and Andrew 
Warner that of " deacon." The founders of New 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford. 61 

England believed that the Bible pointed out 
these officers as those suitable for a local church. 
And th^j believed, also, that the onlv proper 
organized form of the Christian church was in 
self-governing local congregations, composed of 
men and women of religious character, united by 
a covenant, electing their own officers and 
administering their own affairs. This theory, 
which made each congregation in some sense a 
local republic, was warmly defended by most of 
the founders of Hartford, and has contributed 
much to the political development of New Eng- 
land. The right of voting was, however, never 
confined to church-members in Connecticut col- 
ony, as it was for a time in Massachusetts and 
Ne\v Haven colonies. 

Thus, b^^ October, 1633, the future settlers 
of Hartford had become in a true sense an 
organic body, having its own definite leaders 
and members. Not that all dwellers in theNew- 
tow^n, which was soon to be known as Cam- 
bridge, were to come to Hartford. Far from it. 
The early New England settlers often shifted 
from one communit3^ to another, much as the 
inhabitants of towns in our extreme west do to- 
day. But a corporate institution, the local 
church of which Hooker, Stone and Goodwin 



62 Hartford in History. 

were the officers, united many of them together. 
A common reverence and affection for their 
strong men like Hooker, Haynes, Stone and 
Goodwin knit together the whole community. 
So that when, in May and June, 1636, the main 
body of the one-time inhabitants of Cambridge 
made their journey to Hartford, whither some 
of their associates had gone the 3^ear before, it 
was not as a haphazard company of settlers 
such as gather in a newly opened mining camp, 
but as those already associated into one fellow- 
ship in ecclesiastical concerns and in allegiance 
to well-known leaders. 

Of the causes and circumstances of that emi- 
gration and settlement a later paper in this 
series treats in detail. Desire for more room, 
fears lest the Dutch should possess the Connec- 
ticut valley, the attractions of a pleasant loca- 
tion and of a fertile soil, wishes for greater 
independence than could be enjoyed in close 
proximity to other colonial leaders with whom 
the^^ were associated in Massachusetts, and a 
freer and more democratic conception of the 
State than that which the founders of Massa- 
chusetts held, all contributed to the important 
decision to which Hartford owes its origin. 

They were a picked body of emigrants. Im- 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford. 6^ 

pelled to their enterprise b^' motives in which 
mercenary considerations had small share, the 
founders of New England looked upon them- 
selves, and were viewed b}^ a great part^- in the 
mother country-, as the vanguards in a move- 
ment for religious and political reform. The 
importance of the work secured leaders for the 
New England colonies of as conspicuous abili- 
ties as England at that da^- could offer, and the 
founders of Hartford were the peers of an^- who 
then crossed the Atlantic. They had their 
faults. They were not alwa^'S generous or 
tolerant, as judged by the standards of the pres- 
ent age. The\^ had their share of the supersti- 
tions and prejudices of the land from which the^- 
came and of the centur\' in which they lived. 
But if we judge them b^- the standard of their 
education, their country- and their time, which 
is the onh' fair basis of criticism, we find them 
liberal in their laws, democratic in their concep- 
tions of government and generous in their pro- 
visions for education. In a w^ord, they were in 
advance of the generality- of their countrymen 
of the home land; and their spirit was one 
which was sure to make for increasing liberty' 
in the communities which the\' founded. 

But the cost in hardships and sufferings of 



64? Hartford in History. 

planting Hartford and its sister settlements 
was great. Comfortable homes, with all the 
advantages of a long established social life, were 
abandoned for the raw wilderness Avhere every- 
thing had to be created anew. Peace and pro- 
tection were surrendered for constant struggle 
wdth the rude forces of nature and wearing 
anxiet3^ b3^ reason of Indian alarms. Houses 
had to be erected, fields subdued, cleared and 
cultivated, orchards planted, roads cut, the 
more outward elements of civilized life brought 
into being ; while provision was also made for 
military' protection, for the administration of 
law, for education and for worship, — that is, for 
those things which minister to what is best in 
life. It was a great task ; and that the^- did it 
so well, and with such lasting benefit to us, is 
the chief cause why we honor the founders of 
Hartford. 

The following references are offered as sug- 
gestions for further reading on the subject of 
this paper: 

Benjamin Trumbull, History of Connecticut. Vol. I., 
chapters I. -IV. 

G. H. Hollister, History of Connecticut. Vol. I., chap- 
ter I. 

Increase N. Tarbox, in the Memorial History of Hart- 
ford County. Vol. I., 13-36. 



Thomas Hooker and the Settlement of Hartford. 65 
Alexander Johnston, Connecticut. Pp. 1-82. 

Charles M. Andrews, The River Towns of Connecticut, 
in the Seventh Series of the Johns-Hopkins University 
Studies in Historical and Political Science. 

Charles M. Andrews, The Beginnings of the Connecticut 
Towns, in the Annals of the American Academy of 
Political and Social Science, for October, 1890. 

George Leon Walker, Thomas Hooker. 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written 
Constitution. 



By Joseph H. Twichell. 

THE constitution of a State is that part of 
its law by which the nature of its govern- 
inent is fixed. For example, it determines 
\vhether it is a monarchj^ or a republic. 

It may be written, or it may be the way of 
conducting public affairs established b^- custom. 
Besides its constitution, a State has other laws, 
which are continually added to, altered or re- 
pealed. Its constitution is more permanent. 
For the more than two hundred and fifty years 
since Connecticut was founded, the principles of 
its government have remained the same with 
those embodied in its first constitution. 

It is the story of that first constitution that 
is told in this chapter. 

On the 14th day of January, in the year 
1639, the men of the Connecticut Colony, which 
then consisted of the inhabitants of the three 
towns of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield, 
came together in the Hartford meeting-house, 

66 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution. 67 

which was on or near the site of the present 
City Hall, to frame a government for themselves 
and their people. They were in number about 
two hundred. Among them ^were a few persons 
of education; a few, also, v^ho ^were of some 
considerable fortune ; but for the most part they 
v^^ere humble in condition. All alike, they were 
at this time in circumstances of no little hard- 
ship. Within a twelvemonth they had suffered 
from a famine in which the richest of them had 
known what it was not to have enough to eat. 
The^^ with their families had withdrawn from 
the Massachusetts Colony and settled on the 
lands the^^ occupied in Connecticut, in the sum- 
mer of 1636. During the two and a half years 
since, they had not been v^rithout a government, 
but it w^as of a temporary nature, intended to 
carry them along till they were ready to estab- 
lish one that should be permanent. This, the 
time having come, they now proceeded to do by 
adopting a constitution of eleven articles — 
called by them Fundamental Orders — that was 
to be thence onward their supreme civil law. 
Thus the^^ formed themselves, as they expressed 
it, into "one Public State or Commonwealth." 
That constitution is famous in history. The 
reasons why it is so are to be described. But it 



Hartford in Hisiorv. 



will be in order, first, to give a brief outline of 
its contents : 

Article First provided for the holding yearly, 
in April and in September, of two sessions of a 
legislature, or, as they named it, General Court. 
At the first of these all the citizens of the colony 
were to join in electing seven magistrates, of 
whom the Governor was one, to remain in ofiice 
for one j^ear. 

Article Second stated the manner in which 
this election should be conducted and decided. 

Article Third laid down the rule by which the 
magistrates to be voted for should first be nom- 
inated. 

Article Fourth defined the qualifications of 
candidates for office; and, also, ordered that no 
one should be chosen governor twice in succes- 
sion. 

Article Fifth ordered that to the September 
session of the legislature the various towns 
should send representatives to make laws and 
attend to other public business ; also, that the 
town representatives should be present at the 
April session to act in such affairs if it were 
necessar^^, after the election of magistrates was 
over. 

Article Sixth made it the duty of the Gov- 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution. 69 

ernor to issue notice, at the proper time, of the 
regular meetings of the legislature; and gave 
him, besides, the power, with the consent of a 
majority of the magistrates, to call special meet- 
ings of it. It also, in case of the neglect or re- 
fusal of the officials to call any of these meet- 
insrs, s^ave authority to the citizens themselves 
to call it, and declared that when so called, its 
doings should be lawful and binding. 

Articles Seventh and Eighth prescribed the 
number and the qualifications of the town rep- 
resentatives and the manner in which they 
should be elected. 

Article Ninth required the town representa- 
tives to come together in advance of the meet- 
ings of the legislature to see to it that all had 
been properly elected, and to arrange the busi- 
ness that v^as to come before them when the 
legislature opened. 

Article Tenth made it necessary that the pre- 
siding officer, four magistrates, and at least a 
majority of the town representatives, should be 
present at any meeting of the legislature to 
make its acts lawful; and, also, set down the 
things which the legislature had power to do. 

Article Eleventh ordered that in the laA^ngof 
taxes by the legislature, the share of the different 



70 Hartford in History. 

towns should be fixed hy a committee of an 
equal number of members from each town. 

Such were the plain rules, that anyone can 
understand, w^iich the fathers of the Connecticut 
Colony agreed upon as the foundation of the 
government of their new-born State. But 
though t\\Qy were so few and simple, the adop- 
tion of them was one of the most important 
political events on record. Those eleven articles 
wxre the first w^ritten constitution known to 
histor3\ That assemblage in Hartford w^as the 
first of its kind in the modern ages — a meeting 
to provide a government for a people in which 
their men all took part. More than that, it was 
the first to claim and exercise the right of doing 
such a thing without reference to a superior 
human authority. While in the strict sense they 
were British subjects, and would at a later 
period so declare themselves, the only authority 
for their action at this time which these men rec- 
ognized, was, under God, their own will as 
citizens. And the onh^ authority on which their 
government asked to be obe^^ed was that same 
w411 of the people which it expressed. As they 
acted together on an equal footing in making 
their constitution, so they w^ere to be on an 
equal footing under its law^ afterwards. 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution. 71 

From the Connecticut constitution of 1639 
dates the first actual application to civil govern- 
ment of the principle at a later da.j laid down 
in the Declaration of Independence, that '' gov- 
ernments derive their first powers from the con- 
sent of the governed." Nowhere else in the 
world did a government of that character then 
exist. In none of the American colonies was 
there the like. The Pilgrim fathers of the Plym- 
outh Colony had come nearest to it. In their 
celebrated Mayflower Cabin Compact they gave 
every man a vote in the election of magistrates. 
At the same time, however, they expressly 
acknowledged the King of England as their sov- 
ereign ruler. The government of most of the 
other colonies was such as was required hj a 
royal charter, and in all of them the political 
power w^as in the hands of a few persons. It 
was in Connecticut that the " government of the 
people, by the people, for the people " came into 
being, and Hartford was its birthplace. 

Regarding that illustrious work done so 
long ago, by so small a number of ne^" settlers 
in a wilderness, the question naturally arises : — 
what did they themselves think of it ? Had they 
an idea of its real greatness ? If by this it is 
meant to ask whether the3^ foresaw the course 



72 Hartford in History. 

of events in the future, and knew that in the 
step forward in government w^hich thej^ took 
they were leaders in the world's progress, the 
answer must be that the^^ did not suspect how 
great a \vork it was. They did not dream of 
the wonderful history of the advance of political 
freedom, the unfolding of which on the soil of 
this new world and elsewhere the coming gen- 
erations would witness. The object they had 
immediately in view, on which their thoughts 
were bent, was to frame the government that 
was wisest and best for their own little commu- 
nity of less than a thousand souls. It was with 
this humble aim before them that the\^ did what 
to later times is so remarkable and worthy of 
honor. 

Yet in one way thcA^ well understood Avhat 
they were doing. They were distinctly aware 
that the government the^^ framed was in some 
points different from any with which they were 
acquainted ; that the principle of authority on 
which it was based was new. Their purpose 
Avas to make it a government resting alone on 
the will of the people, or what is called a democ- 
racy. This is clearl3\ pro ved by the constitu- 
tion itself, as, for example, in the Sixth Article, 
where, in case the official authorities should 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution. 73 

neglect or refuse to call the legislature together 
as the law commanded, the citizens themselves 
were given power to do it. 

But there are circumstances in their history 
a little further back which show the same in a 
very unmistakable manner; which show, in fact, 
that the chief reason why they came to Connec- 
ticut was to be free to have such a government. 

On their first coming over from England a 
few 3^ears previously, the^^ had joined the Mass- 
achusetts Colony, where they settled the towns 
of Cambridge (then called Newtown), Dorches- 
ter and Water town. The government of that 
colonj^ had from the outset, by the charter it re- 
ceived from King Charles I., been in charge of a 
small class of men called freemen (or, as we 
should say, voters), of whom, out of the several 
hundreds of men in the colon^^, there were, at 
first, but twenty. None but thcA^ had a voice in 
public affairs. They onU^ could elect magis- 
trates, who must be taken from their own num- 
ber. The3^onh^ had power to admit new voters. 
Some they did admit, but not many. At the 
time the people v^ho settled in Cambridge and 
afterwards in Hartford arrived in Massachu- 
setts, in 1633, when the colony there was three 
years old and had grown to a population of 



74 Hartford in History. 

nearly five thousand, there were no more than 
three hundred and fifty of them in all; and, as it 
^was, the^^ had even less share in the government 
than the charter allowed them. According to 
that charter it was their right to take part in 
making laws for their colony and in managing 
its other general interests. But soon after the 
colony landed the\^ had been induced to give up 
that right, and confine their action as voters to 
the election of a board of twenty magistrates 
called Assistants. Out of their own number, 
these magistrates then chose the governor and 
the lieutenant-governor, and w^ith them carried 
on the affairs of the colony as they saw fit. So 
that the government of Massachusetts, in those 
days, was not a ''government of the people, by 
the people, for the people," but a government of 
the many by the few, or v^hat is called an oli- 
garchy. And this in the judgment of most of the 
leading men of the colony was the only form of 
government that was sensible and safe. They 
were good and true men, but that was their 
opinion. Foremost among them was John Win- 
throp. He was of a noble, unselfish spirit, ever 
devoted to the public welfare, but he did not be- 
lieve in having the people rule themselves . It was 
a sa^^ng of his that in a communit\^ "the best 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution. 75 

part is alwa^^s the least, and of that best part 
the wiser part is always the lesser. ' ' It seemed 
to him, therefore, that a select fewr ought to do 
the governing. And that view" for quite a while 
prevailed in Massachusetts. Some of the voters, 
however, and more and more of them as time 
went on, did not agree with it, and were not 
content to have so nearly all the pov^er left in the 
hands of the magistrates. Soon they began to 
complain of it, and to ask that their rights 
under the charter should be restored to them. 
This demand the magistrates resisted, but 
though they were forced to yield to it in the end, 
the contest between them and the voters about 
it lasted many years and gave the colony a 
great deal of trouble. 

It was ^while this contest was going on that 
the band of emigrants from England, of which 
the Rev. Thomas Hooker was leader, and which 
was usually called "Mr. Hooker's Company," 
reached Boston and settled in Cambridge, 
near by. It presently appeared that in the dis- 
pute concerning government, the ne^wcomers 
v^ere on the side of the people. This was largeh- 
due to the influence of Mr. Hooker. One of the 
early historians of New England, William Hub- 
bard, says that after his coming "it was ob- 



76 Hartford in History. 

served that maiw of the freemen grew to be 
very jealous of their liberties. ' ' 

What Thomas Hooker's views of govern- 
ment were, and how unlike those of most of the 
chief men in Massachusetts, ma^^ be learned from 
various sources. Thus, for instance, they are 
clearty stated in a letter he once wrote from 
Hartford to John Winthrop. It was in answer 
to one he had received, in which Mr. Winthrop 
had earnestly expressed his conviction that it 
was best and safest that the few should govern. 
Mr. Hooker, with equal earnestness, declared his 
different conviction in these words : " In matters 
of greater consequence, which concern the com- 
mon good, a general council chosen by all, I con- 
ceive, under favor, most suitable to rule and 
most safe for relief of the whole." 

But there was an occasion on which, in pub- 
lic, he professed his faith in the doctrine ot 
political liberty in a manner more striking still. 
In the spring of 1638 the colonists of Connecti- 
cut met in Hartford to consider the question of 
government on \srhich the^^ took their memo- 
rable action in the following year. And there 
Thomas Hooker preached them a sermon on the 
subject before them. His text was from the 
book of Deuteronomy^, the first chapter, the 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution. 77 

thirteenth vense: ''Take j^ou wise men, and un- 
derstanding, and known among 3^our tribes, and 
I will make them rulers over you." In the 
course of this sermon, notes of v^hichwere taken 
down b3^ Henr^^ Wolcott of Windsor, and have 
been preserved, the preacher said such things as 
these : 

"The foundation of authority is laid firstly 
in the free consent of the people." 

"The choice of public magistrates belongs 
unto the people, hj God's own allowance." 

' ' They who have power to appoint officers 
and magistrates, it is in their power, also, to set 
the bounds and limitations of the power and 
place unto which the^^ call them." 

"The lesson (he said in closing) is to per- 
suade us, as God hath given us liberty to take 
it." 

It is plain that the ideas so expressed could 
not be reconciled with those that prevailed in 
the Massachusetts Colony. Had Thomas 
Hooker vs.nth his political principles remained in 
that colony, he would have been compelled to 
take a stand against the contrary principles on 
which the government there was conducted. 
This he and his associates who shared his 
opinions, did not like to do. The prospect of 



78 Hartford in History. 

strife was unwelcome to them ; the more so as 
those with whom they would have to contend 
were men whom, personally", they esteemed and 
honored. So that not long after their arrival 
they made up their minds to seek some other 
place to make their home. They had heard 
from explorers of desirable fair lands lying to 
the southward on the "Great River," as the 
Connecticut was called ; and by and by they 
asked the colony' authorities to permit them to 
go down and occupy them. The reasons they 
gave for their request were three: First, that 
there was not room enough for them in Cam- 
bridge. Second, "the fruitfulness and commo- 
diousness of Connecticut," and the danger that 
if the English did not settle it, somebody else 
would. Third, "the strong bent of their spirits 
to remove thither," which really meant their 
wish to go away from Massachusetts. Connec- 
ticut was outside the bounds of the territory 
that belonged to the Massachusetts Colon3^ 
There was no royal charter to dictate a form of 
government to its settlers. To all intents and 
purposes it was an open country that anyone 
might inhabit who chose, and be free. 

To the granting of the petition of "Mr. 
Hooker's Company" there was great opposi- 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution. 79 

tion, and no wonder. It was known that if the 
Cambridge people moved to Connecticut, those 
of Dorchester and Watertown, who, also, 
strongly objected to the rule of the magistrates, 
would join them. The departure of so many 
from the young colony would be a ver3^ serious 
loss to it. Every effort was put forth to per- 
suade them to stay, and they did, for a time, 
think of giving up their plan: but only for a 
time. While they hesitated, the controversy 
about government that was disturbing Alassa- 
chusetts broke out afresh and became fiercer 
than ever. They were soon again convinced 
that their best course was to withdraw. In- 
deed, the matter had gone too far to be arrested. 
Small detachments from the three discontented 
towns began to make their way to Connecticut 
alone. In another year the project of emigra- 
tion was resumed. Dorchester and Watertown 
now sent in their petitions to the authorities for 
permission to go. They might, the answer was, if 
they would not quit Massachusetts. But that 
would not do at all. The time had come ; the 
preparations were made; and, leave or no leave, 
in 1636 the most part of the people of those 
towns set out on their journey by sea or through 
the wilderness, and by the end of the summer of 



80 



Hartford in History 



that year were d'wellers on the banks of the Con- 
necticut. 

It deserves to be remembered that the 
mother colon^^, though displeased with them for 
forsaking her, and never consenting to it, yet 
when it could not be prevented parted from 
them with kindness and showed friendship to 
them afterwards. 

There can be no doubt that the main object 
of their departure was to secure for themselves 
and their posterity the benefit of a free govern- 
ment. That object was accomplished in their 
adoption of the Connecticut constitution of 
1639. Into it were woven those principles of 
civil liberty and equality- which its framers be- 
lieved in; for the sake of which they chose to 
go apart b\' themselves. 

What the Connecticut fathers thus did in 
their early days was, as has been justly said, 
^'the most far-reaching political work of mod- 
ern times." It has been helpful to the cause 
of freedom in all the generations since. It 
did much to prepare the way for the founding, 
one hundred and fifty ^^ears later, of our na- 
tional Republic ; and it had an important influ- 
ence in shaping the Constitution of the United 
States. 



Hartford the Birthplace of the Written Constitution. 81 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
History of Hartford County (J. H. Trumbull). 
Johnston's Connecticut (American Commonwealth 
Series) . 

Palfrey's History of New England. 

Winthrop's History of New England. 

250th Anniversary of the First Church in Hartford 
(Walker). 

250th Anniversary of the Adoption of the First Con- 
stitution OF Connecticut (Published by the Connec- 
ticut Historical Society. 



Social Life and Customs. 



T 



By Edwin P. Parker. 

HE people of Hartford, in the olden time, 
were few in number and straitened in cir- 
cumstances. Their means of communica- 
tion with other settlements were slight and 
difficult. Their privileges of education and cul- 
ture were meagre, and the limitations of their 
social life were narrow. The isolation, the pri- 
vations, and the perils of their "wilderness con- 
dition " made their struggle for subsistence and 
securit^^ a serious one, but they were a sober, 
frugal, industrious, virtuous and religious peo- 
ple, and however austere their beliefs and severe 
their laws may have been, they doubtless found 
no little happiness amid the hardships of their 
lot. 

Their homes were chiefl^^ along what are 
now Front, Arch, Sheldon, Main, Elm, Governor 
and Buckingham streets. The original log huts 
of the settlers were soon replaced b^^ framed 
buildings, mam' of which were commodious and 
comely. These houses, which seem to have been 

82 



Social Life and Customs. 83 

an invention of New England, sometimes were 
large square buildings, with a one-story '* ell " in 
the rear, and having four large rooms on the 
main floor built around and connected by fire- 
places with the great central chimney. Plain, 
rectangular houses, with two or three rooms, 
and sleeping arrangements in the garret or attic, 
and frequently with the roof sloping in the rear 
to the first stor^^ or lower, were more common. 
With few exceptions these houses were imper- 
fectly finished and scantily furnished. The con- 
veniences for housekeeping were rude and 
limited. Stoves and carpets were unknown. 
Forks w^ere not in use at table, but napkins were 
abundant. Stools supplied the lack of chairs. 
Feather beds, bolsters and pillow^s for the high, 
corded, and curtained beds, and for the "trundle- 
bed " as well, were a necessit3% for the colonial 
house at its best estate was tedioush^ cold dur- 
ing the winter. The spacious kitchen, wath its 
great fireplace, its side oven, its broad mantel, 
its chimnej^ closets, its long, suspended poles, 
upon w^hich hung various articles of food or 
clothing, was or din ariW the living-room. Tall, 
red, basket-bottomed chairs and a high-backed 
settle were features of the room. A two-leaved 
table with a drawer in one end, a small "light- 



84 Hartford in History. 

stand" between the windows for the Bible and 
the work-basket, a canopied cradle, seldom 
empty, and a spinning wheel were generally 
there. In the other and less used apartments, 
^whether parlors, halls, or "spare rooms," were 
bureaus, chests of drawers, clocks, bedsteads of 
impr sing appearance, quaint chairs and mirrors, 
framed family registers and shining fireside 
utensils. An appendage to the kitchen w^as the 
" dresser room," with its lower shelf for wooden 
ware ; a broader shelf for bowls, platters, por- 
ringers and pewter ware ; a grooved upper shelf 
for plates on edge ; a top shelf for the tea set ; 
and closets near the floor w^hose doors were 
fastened by wooden buttons. 

The table Avas furnished with substantial 
fare. There w^as an abundance of game, fowl, 
fish, and of fruits and vegetables in their season. 
Indian meal prepared as bread or porridge, suc- 
cotash, baked beans, bread of wheat or r\^e, and 
puddings fearfully and wonderfully made, were 
common articles of food. One "playne supper 
but of exceeding relish " was " warm r\'e loaves 
Avith butter and honey and bowds of sweet milk 
and roasted apples." Butter and cheese were 
luxuries, and churns are seldom mentioned in 
the inventories of estates in earlv Hartford. 



Social Life and Customs. 85 

Coffee and chocolate were little used before 
1683, and the earliest mention of tea in the 
household is in 1695. It was for some time 
later a great luxury-, even to the wealthier peo- 
ple. The beverages of the people, besides water 
and milk, were cider, beer, perry, and syrups 
and cordials made from berries, and wm^ and 
rum as could be afforded. Under regulation of 
law, tobacco T^^as smoked. 

As early as 1641 Hartford had a bell-ringer 
and town-crier, and every morning, an hour be- 
fore daybreak, his bell was rung in the streets. 
It was expected that some one must be up to 
make a light in ever^^ house fifteen minutes after 
this early signal. As matches were unknown 
it was the custom to cover the fire on the heart 
for preservation until the ensuing morning, not 
was it uncommon for people whose fire had 
gone out during the night to goto the neighbors 
for a live coal. 

Later the meeting-house bell was rung daily 
at noon and again at nine o'clock in the evening, 
and this evening bellw^s the signal for all sober 
householders to rake up the fire and prepare for 
rest. 

Agriculture was, of course, the chief means 
of occupation and of subsistence. Wheat, corn. 



86 



Hartford in History 



rye, barley, oats, hemp and flax Avere cultivated, 
and one of the first objects of every householder 
was to get a vegetable garden in good order and 
an orchard in fruitful condition. Each man v^^as 
in some measure his own mechanic, although 
tools were imperfect, and each house-mistress 
was in about the same measure the designer 
and the maker of domestic garments. But the 
trades v^ere represented by the carpenter, the 
blacksmith, the tanner, the wheelwright, the 
shoemaker, the saw^^er and the weaver. The 
storekeeper was a notch higher in the social 
scale than the artisan. He sold everj^thing that 
the people required, as he could procure it, from 
nails to dry goods, from candy to codfish, and 
took his paA^ in "produce" when money w^as 
lacking. His dingy, musty store was a favorite 
resort, at evening, for the male gossips and the 
petty politicians of the village. The farmers 
raised cattle, swine, sheep, goats and poultry, 
but their horses were comparatively few and in- 
ferior. Vehicles for riding were scarce, for there 
were few roads, and journeys v^^ere made afoot 
or on horseback. The cattle were marked by 
peculiar crops and slits of their ears. The price 
of both labor and commodities was regulated 
bj^ law. There were saw-mills and grist-mills. 



Social Life and Customs. 87 

Articles of commerce were com, skins, leather, 
pipe-staves, deal-boards, pork, beef, wool, cider 
and biscuit. They produced all the materials 
for boats, ketches, shallops and trading vessels, 
and sent their ventures in due time to Boston, 
to New York, to Newfoundland, to Barbados, 
to Jamaica, and occasionally to Fayal and 
Madeira, bringing back clothing, tools, sugar, 
nails, glass, cutlery, wines and liquors. Spin- 
ning wheels made music in most households, and 
there \vas prodigious industr3^ of knitting 
needles. 

There was a weekly market in Hartford, and 
a fair in May and September, and once a v\reek 
and twice each year Hartford became a mart for 
the surrounding country. The fairs were festi- 
val days. 

"We are a poor people," so the record runs. 
''For the most part we do labor in tilling the 
ground, and by the time a year's labor and 
travail have gathered some small parcel of pro- 
visions, it is transported to Boston, and there 
half a crown v^dll not produce so inuch goods of 
any sort as tenpence will in England." 

The dress of the people -was plain, but com- 
fortable, and not v^dthout picturesque features. 
A common dress of w^omen was a blue and white 



88 Hartford in History. 

linen waist, with short sleeves, joined to a skirt 
of serge, and a white apron. The goodwife 
w^ent abroad for visiting or to meeting attired 
in a short gown of "sad stuff," laced in front, 
with a white kerchief about her neck and bosom, 
with mits covering the forearm and bits of rib- 
bon here and there. The wealthier ladies of 
quality appeared, on good occasion, in flowing 
brocades, or with gowns of cashmere or silk, 
with embroidered stomachers, silk scarfs and 
fine laces. A petticoat of woolen stuff or of bro- 
cade or silk, according to rank, was often worn 
by ladies. Clothing of leather was much worn 
by laborers and vServants. Coarse, firm, home- 
spun cloth of linen and wool served for better 
garments. The magistrate, the deputy, and 
such as were distinguished by comparative rank 
or wealth, had richer and gayer clothing. The 
village tailoress went from house to house, to 
cut and make up the ruder clothes, while for the 
richer folk traveling tailors sold and fashioned 
their finer goods. Excess of apparel was de- 
clared to be unbecoming and inconsistent with 
the gospel, and the authorities were at much 
labor and pains to regulate dress, not merely so 
as to discourage expense and waste, but so as 
to make the garments of the people correspond 



Social Life and Customs. 89 

to their social rank and estate. Certain laws or 
orders concerning this matter were not to apply 
to magistrates or officers of the colony, or to 
their ^aves and children, or "to such whose 
quality and estate have been above the ordinary 
degree, though now decayed." One function of 
dress was to classify people according to their 
rank and wealth. Women prosecuted for wear- 
ing excess of apparel — laces or silks — were dis- 
charged on proof that their husbands were 
worth a certain amount of money, or that the^^ 
themselves had been " brought up above the ordi- 
nary ranke." But all the attempts of the fathers 
to regulate this matter according to their curious 
notions were of little avail. The good people, 
as they could afford it, hastened to improve and 
enrich both their houses and their garments, 
and before the seventeenth centur^^ had closed, 
brighter, ga3^er, costlier st^des of dress, as also 
new and beautiful forms of household furniture, 
began to prevail. 

The church was the central institution of 
the community. The first meeting-house, some 
portion of which was used awhile as an arsenal, 
stood in the spacious square where the freemen 
annually gathered to choose public officers, and 
near by it stood also the school-house, the sign- 



90 Hartford in History. 

post, the market, the jail, the pillory and the 
stocks. On each Lord's day, at nine o'clock in 
the morning and at two o'clock in the after- 
noon, the people assembled for worship in the 
rude, uncarpeted, un warmed meeting-house. 
Seats on the floor were assigned to householders 
according to their rank and dignity. The lower 
classes sat in the galleries. The sermons were 
long, the prayers were unstinted, and the psalm- 
singing was unmelodious. Children were taken 
to the meeting-house for baptism ver\' soon 
after their birth, and it is recorded that on some 
such occasions the weather was so severe that 
ice formed in the baptismal bowl. The boys 
gave no little trouble, and, if caught misbehav- 
ing in or about the meeting-house, were liable 
to public rebuke and correction. 

During the interval between morning and 
afternoon Avorship, there was another kind of 
meeting, during which the affairs of the neigh- 
borhood were freely discussed, and no end of 
gossip, social and political, prevailed. This was 
the great social exchange of the community. 

The tithing-man, whose chief dutA^ was to 
preserve good order in the church during divine 
service, and to enforce the observance of the 
Sabbath, had his hands full with sleepy saints. 



Social Life and Customs. 91 

indifferent sinners, and mischievous youth. He 
must needs look after ^^oung people illegally 
walking together on the Sabbath, after 
strangers at inns, after travelers, after such as 
"lye at home" or "linger without doors at 
meeting time," and after "all sons of Belial 
strutting about, setting on fences and otherwise 
desecrating the day." 

Funeral services were attended with scant 
religious ceremony. The bell was tolled, prayer 
was offered, and devout men quietly bore the 
dead, laid upon a bier and covered with a pall, 
to the place of burial. Verses, mournful and 
eulogistic, precursors of the later tombstone 
poetry, were often fastened to the bier, or circu- 
lated among friends. But the funeral was a 
social event, and brought together the entire 
neighborhood. After its solemnities were com- 
pleted, refreshments were served to the bearers 
and friends, and, if tradition may be trusted, the 
exhortation, " Give strong drink unto him that 
is residj to perish and wine unto those that be 
of heavy hearts," was ooeyed with more zeal 
than discretion . David Porter, of Hartford , was 
drowned in the year 1678, and the bill for the 
expenses of the recovery and burial of his body 
included liquor for those who dived for him, for 



92 Hartford in History. 

those who brought him home, and for the jury 
of inquest. Eight gallons and three quarts of 
^aneand a barrel of cider were purchased for his 
funeral. His winding sheet and coffin cost 
thirty shillings, but the liquor used at his funeral 
cost more than twice that sum. 

This use of strong liquors at funerals contin- 
ued until a comparativel3^ recent time, and was 
not abandoned without strong protests against 
so inhospitable a reformation. One old gentle- 
man remarked, with bitterness, that "Temper- 
ance had done for funerals." 

It maj^ be added that the somewhat free use 
of Avine, rum, toddy, and other spirituous 
beverages, was customary with all sorts and 
conditions of men in the olden time, and at ordi- 
nation dinners and ministerial assemblies as 
well as at house-raisings and on training days, 
great quantities of liquor were consumed. The 
virtue of total abstinence from strong drink had 
not then been so much as discovered, although 
intemperance was regarded with some latitude 
as degrading and sinful. 

It was the custom in Hartford and vicinity, 
on the occasion of a funeral, to muffle with nap- 
kins all ornaments, mirrors and pictures in the 
house of sorrow, and often the front window 



Social Life and Customs. 93 

shutters were kept closed and tied with black 
for several months. Gloves were freely furnished 
and sent to friends on such occasions, and 
mourning rings \vith curious decorations and 
mottoes were also distributed. 

Courtships and marriages came under a cer- 
tain degree of official supervision, and no per- 
sons were joined in marriage by ministers until 
about 1684, when the General Court granted 
permission to ordained ministers to marry such 
as desired religious services. Unmarried adults 
were regarded askance. The ^dower and the 
widow made haste to wed again, and the young 
people were married early and, sometimes, often. 
Bachelors w^ere badgered, and at one time were 
compelled to pay a certain fine to the town for 
living alone. We read of one " antient maid" 
who v\ras twenty-five years old. 

The good people of olden time had their 
curious superstitions. Comets created alarm. 
Eclipses v^ere regarded as portentous. Houses 
were invaded and disturbed by Satan's imps. 
Diabolical enchantments and Indian sorceries 
were apprehended. Lights in the burying ground 
and on the marshes were frightful. Spinning 
wheels, sleds, and weather vanes were bewitched. 
Broken mirrors were fateful. If a garden toad 



94 Hartford in History. 

was killed, the cows would give bloody milk. 
Bushes must be cut at a certain quarter of the 
moon. Chairs in a row indicated company ap- 
proaching. Soot taking fire on the chimney 
back betokened foul weather. The baby was 
carrried upstairs for the first time with gold 
and silver in his hand, to bring him wealth in 
the world. Scarlet was laid on his head to keep 
him from harm, and necklaces made of the teeth 
of animals were placed about his neck for the 
''easy breeding of his teeth." 

The amusements of the young people were 
under somewhat rigid restrictions. Dancing, 
card-playing, bowls, shuffleboards and play- 
acting were prohibited. Instruments of music 
other than the drum, fife, trumpet and jews- 
harp werenot sanctioned. Butthere were house- 
raisings, corn-huskings, quilting-parties, apple- 
bees, sheep-shearings, maple-sugar-makings, pic- 
nics, sleigh-rides and hilarious assemblies at 
w^eddings and parties. There were athletic 
sports. Election da\^s, thanksgiving days, train- 
ing days, or general musters, and commence- 
ment days were seasons of various and general 
merrymaking. One singular custom v^as that 
of celebrating '* Nigger Election." A black man 
was chosen to hold sway over his colored breth- 



Social Life and Customs. 95 

ren, and his election was celebrated with great 
gaiety and feasting. At a later date dancing 
so prevailed that even * ' ordination balls ' ' were 
given in Connecticut and in the vicinity of 
Hartford. 

Some curious customs which have entirely 
passed away were then in vogue. It w^as not 
uncommon to steal away the bride at a wed- 
ding, and make a feast at the expense of the 
bridegroom. Another custom, just the reverse 
of bride-stealing, is recorded. Just before the 
happy pair joined hands, the bridegroom quitted 
his place, w^hen the bridesmen ^^ould follow, 
seize and drag him back to his post of duty. 

The people were then more dependent upon 
each other, and were more neighborly in certain 
significant ways. If one family had some table 
luxury, a portion of it would most likely be 
sent to a neighbor as " a taste of our dinner," 
and the compliment was sure to be reciprocated 
in due time. This neighborly feeling was man- 
ifested in the assistances rendered and in the 
kindly attentions exchanged between families. 
If one was building a house or barn, his neigh- 
bors came to drive a pin or a nail, or do some 
little act of helpfulness, in token of friendly feel- 
ing and good will. If some good wife was ill 



96 Hartford in History. 

and behind in her household affairs, helping- 
hands were not w^anting for her relief. And in 
the custom of visiting and watching with the 
sick, we may see a beautiful aspect of the life of 
the olden daj'-s. It has been well said that '4f 
the chief foundation of the New England Com- 
monwealth was religion, the second certainly 
was neighborliness." 

The school was theoretically next to the 
church in the estimation of our forefathers, but 
the care and culture of it were often sadly 
neglected, notwithstanding the legal require- 
ment of ever^' towm containing thirty families 
to maintain such an institution for teaching 
children to read and write. The dominant idea 
seems to have been that the children should be 
taught "reading and other learning, and to 
Know their duty toward God and man," — a 
good idea, if somewhat vague. Very little is on 
record in respect to the earlier schools, but the 
school-mistress preceded the school-master, and 
taught the children out of the New England 
primer and from the hornbook. She taught to 
"behave," to be mannerly, to be respectful and 
dutiful to parents, to elders, to magistrates, and 
especiall3^ to ministers. The school-master did 
not spare the rod, and seldom spoiled the child. 



Social Life and Customs. 97 

The schools ^vere kept during part of the year, 
for three or four months. Boys and girls learned, 
both at home and at school, much more than 
book-lore, and it is well they did, for many men 
and women of the second and third generation 
were unable to write their names. They had a 
thorough industrial training, in the field or in 
the kitchen, and religion was mixed wth all 
their education, from the alphabet, upward and 
onward. 

Whatever may be said of the ''blue la^ws " 
of Connecticut, it is certain that the code, writ- 
ten or unwritten, according to which court and 
church attempted to regulate domestic and so- 
cial life, was a severe and rigid one. The orders 
for the observance of the Sabbath v\.^ere strict, 
but not much more so than those which per- 
tained to dress, to the use of tobacco, to amuse- 
ments, to the teaching of children and the train- 
ing of servants, to the contempt of parents, to 
idleness, and to many other things. Family 
w^orship was strictly enjoined, and negligent 
heads of households were liable to punishment. 
All persons boarding or sojourning in families 
must attend the worship of these families, and 
submit themselves to ''domestical government 
therein." And 3^et the people of Hartford, in 



98 Hartford in History. 

those da^^s, though their conditions of life w^ere 
hard and narrow, though the beliefs prevalent 
among them and the restrictions under which 
they acted were austere and rigorous, Avere by 
no means sour, glooms- or unhappy. Their 
lives were sustained b^^ a lofty purpose, cheered 
b3^ faith and hope, lightened by mutual helpful- 
ness, and sweetened b3^ domestic affections. 
They found life abundantly worth living. There 
were doleful deacons, mournful ministers, and 
frowning magistrates, but there were hearty, 
healthy, sunny, good people in abundance, older 
and 3^ounger, sane of mind and sound of heart, 
kind and neighborly, who would not in the least 
have understood some modern commiserations 
of their lot. 

In 1647 a lad3' wrote to her friend concern- 
ing some pieces of goods for gowns, saying: 
" She have three pieces of stuff, but I think there 
is one you would like for ^-ourself. It is pretty 
sad stuff, but it have a thread of white in it." 

It may be, as has been said, that those 
people fashioned the whole fabric of their lives 
out of ''pretty sad stuff," but the fabric they 
fashioned was stout and strong and serviceable, 
and the threads of white are ever3^where visible 
in it. 




CHARTER OAK. 



Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut's 
Charter. 



By W. DeLoss Love. 

THE youth of Hartford have heard some- 
thing about Connecticut's charter. Some 
of them have seen it, framed in carved oak, 
hanging in the office of the Secretary of State 
at the Capitol. It is written in black letter 
characters, on three skins of parchment, and its 
ornamental heading fittingly displays the pic- 
ture of Charles II., the King of England, who 
granted it on the 23d of April, 1662. It is the 
most famous document in our colonial history, 
and our most interesting traditions gather 
about it. The children who go to see it will 
ask such questions as these : Why did our fath- 
ers want this charter? What did they do to 
obtain it ? Who went to ask it of the King ? 
When and hov^ ^was it brought to this country ? 
What rights did it secure to them? How did 
they try to keep it when Governor Andros was 
sent to take it from them ? Of what value has 
it been to their descendants? The town of 

99 



100 Hartford in History. 

Hartford has a prominent place in the story 
which answers all these questions. 

The Connecticut Colony, under the consti- 
tution adopted in 1639, set up an independent 
government. This was the creation of the peo- 
ple who were well satisfied with the manner in 
which it conducted their public affairs. The^^ 
wanted, however, a charter in which the King 
would recognize and confirm their right of 
self-government. Moreover, their colony had 
no definite bounds. The Say brook fort and 
the lands upon Connecticut River had been 
bought in 1644 of George Fenwick, who also 
agreed to convey to the colony all the land 
between Saybrook and Narragansett River, if 
it came into his power. He acted in this for the 
patentees. Lord Say and Sele, and others, who 
had received a large tract by grant from the 
Earl of Warwick. This was called the ''Old 
Patent." It had, however, never been legally 
assigned to the colonists. They had no copy of 
it and did not know what privileges it con- 
ferred. So they wanted a royal charter to 
establish their title, define their bounds and give 
them the right of jurisdiction. 

Our fathers considered carefully how they 
could obtain such a charter. It was not until 



Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut's Charter. 101 

Charles II. was seated on the throne that they 
thought the time had come to present their peti- 
tion. Accordingly the General Court, meeting 
at Hartford, March 14, 1661, determined to 
send an address to the King, declaring them- 
selves his loyal subjects and utilize the occasion 
to further their purpose. This address ^^as 
drawn up by their governor, John Winthrop, 
and, with a petition stating their case, ^was ap- 
proved on the 7th of June. They chose the Gov- 
ernor to present these to His Majesty, and he 
was authorized to expend £500 in his mission. 
His letter of credit is among the framed exhibits 
in the State library. Other colonies would 
have been glad to avail themselves of his ser- 
vices at court, but he did not wish to embarrass 
his cause with other matters. So, with "no 
small motive," he slipped down the river from 
Hartford for New Amsterdam ( New York ) , 
v^hence he sailed on the 23rd of July in the 
Dutch ship De Trouw, which Governor Stuyve- 
sant had kindly detained for his convenience. In 
the autumn w^e find him safely arrived at Lon- 
don and established in lodgings at Mr. Whit- 
ing's house, in Coleman street, near St. Stephen's 
Church. 

The honor of securing the Connecticut char- 



102 Hartford in History. 

ter belongs almost wholly to John Winthrop, 
whose portrait may be seen in our State li- 
brary. He had been born to his honored Puri- 
tan father, FebruarA^ 12, 1606, at Groton Hall, 
Suffolk County, England. After completing his 
course at Trinity College, Dublin, studying law 
in London, engaging in the naval service and 
traveling in the East, he came to New England in 
1631, and had gained a large acquaintance with 
colonial affairs. Although less conspicuous, he 
was as remarkable a man as his father, the 
Massachusetts governor, whose talents and vir- 
tues he inherited. He was first elected governor 
of Connecticut in 1657, and thereupon he was 
invited to remove from New London and dwell 
in Hartford, to which end the "housing and 
lands " of the late Governor John Haynes, on the 
corner of Arch and Front streets, were offered 
him. After 1659 he was our governor for eight- 
een years, until his death, and he spent much of 
his time in Hartford. There were some good 
reasons why he might hope for success at court. 
He had been appointed governor for one year 
under the "Old Patent" in 1635, and his patron. 
Lord Say and Sele, was high in favor with 
Charles II. This nobleman was friendly to the 
colonists. Through him they hoped to obtain 



Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut's Charter. 103 

the assistance of the Earl of Manchester, to 
whom the^^ sent a letter. The Connecticut Col- 
on^^ had also these advantages : It had not then 
been accused of sheltering the judges of Charles 
I., there ^^ere no commercial enemies to oppose, 
it had not been given to the publication of con- 
troversial tracts in England, and in no wav had 
it made its Puritanism offensive. Thus the just 
cause of a loyal colony ^^as in the hands of a 
v^^ell-favored gentleman. He had with him a 
draft of the charter the colonists wished to 
secure. It is said also that he had an extraordi- 
nary ring, once given to his grandfather by the 
King's father, which he graciously presented to 
His Majesty at an auspicious moment. At all 
events, John Winthrop opened the King's heart 
and hand . The charter was granted . Our ' ' rights 
and privileges ' ' v^^ere committed by a skillful 
hand to the parchment sheets, and on the 10th 
of May, 1662, the great seal of England, im- 
pressed in dark green wax, w^as attached at the 
bottom. A duplicate was also made — the same 
except in some details of spelling or capitals — 
which Governor Winthrop carried w^hen, in due 
time, he returned to New England. In the hall 
of the Connecticut Historical Society the boys 
and girls wall see a box of peculiar shape, covered 



104 . Hartford in History. 

with leather and Hned with the discarded sheets 
of a history of Charles II., which was made for 
the charter's protection. In this the precious 
document w^as kept for many years. The His- 
torical Society has been the custodian of this box 
since 1840, and has also some fragments of the 
seal. The painting of Secretary George W3dlys, 
hanging near, shows this box on the table. It 
is now inclosed in a case, and within it is exhib- 
ited what remains of the so-called duplicate 
charter, about which something will be said 
presently. 

We may be almost certain of the wa^^ in 
which Governor Winthrop sent the original 
charter from London to Hartford. He had 
friends who were about to return home — the 
agents of the Massachusetts Colony — Mr. Simon 
Bradstreet and Rev. John Norton, who had also 
come with a lo^^al address in hope of making 
secure their own charter, then in jeopardy. The 
new ship Society, built and owned in Boston, 
Christopher Clark, master, had brought them 
on her first voyage, and now was ready to re- 
turn. So to them Winthrop committed his 
treasure in its leather-covered box, knowing it 
v^ould be safe. They arrived at Boston, Septem- 
ber 3, 1662. What should they do with it then ? 



Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut's Charter. 105 

The commissioners of the United Colonies met 
there the next da^^. Among them were two 
Hartford magistrates, Samuel Wyllys and John 
Talcott, the treasurer, the third and the eleventh 
patentees named in the document; they w^ere 
the proper persons to receive it. Without doubt 
it v^as delivered to them, for the commissioners' 
records tell us that this charter, which had come 
by "the last ship," vyras read and discussed at 
their meeting. When they separated, Wyllys 
and Talcott returned to Hartford, arriving in 
time for the session of the General Court, con- 
vened on the 9th of October. The record of that 
da^^ is : '' The Pattent or Charter was this day 
publiquely read in audienc of ye Freemen, and 
declared to belong to them and their successors, 
and ye freemen made choice of Mr. Willys, 
C[apt]: John Talcot and Lt John Allyn to take 
the Charter into their Custody, in behalf of ye 
Freemen, who are to haue an oath Administered 
to them by the Generall Assembly, for ye due dis- 
charge of the trust committed to them." John 
Allyn also lived in Hartford, and so three Hart- 
ford magistrates became the keepers of the char- 
ter, to v^hom the Assembly requested Winthrop 
to deliver the duplicate also vs^hen he arrived the 
follov^ing spring. He had arranged to have the 



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Hnrttonf iu Itistorv 



oxpouscs paiii \\\ wheat ami |hms. w hieli thov'ol 
onists inmiodialvlx l>vi;an t(> v'olU\>l al \c\v l.oti 
lion tor sliipuuMit. V\w pn>poi tion <>l llariloul 
was tioarlv ouolourtli. wliioh wouM have luvii 
J»(H> bushels i>t w heat ami :\00 bushels ot peas, 
riuis havius^ their liberties seeure, o\\\ laiheis 
appiunteil a Thauksi^iviuL: via v. (>ett>l>er l.'l», 
UUVJ, as ilie leeoni deelares, '* parlieularlv for 
the li'ooil stKvess (nul liath i^iveu to iheeudeav- 
ors ot iMir Hoiu>»eil (utveruor iu v»btaiuiuL: oui' 
Cliartei oi His Majesty i>ur Sovereii^u." 

The ehai ler erealeil a eorporat iiMi. to l>e ail 
uiinisteretl ou L\>inuvtieut soil, et»tupose<l ol" 
uiueteeu patentees ami their eUvleil assoeiates, 
io whom the rii^hts o( s^overumetit alroMily 
assuuied were eoutinueil. The bi»uuilarics there- 
in tixeil iuelmleil a narrow belt ot" territory. 
Siutth ol' the Massaehusetts line auil evtemliuL; 
troni " \arn\L:aueel t Ivmv oi\ the baist lo the 
vSouih Sea ou the West." This i;ave them the 
ilisputed IVipiot lamls. the territory oi the New 
Uaveti Colony aiul a eiMuitry. eui iu iwi> bv 
New \\>rk. stretehiui; awav westward i>e\ou(l 
their knowledge. I'tuler this patent the eolo- 
i\ists lived happily tor a ipiarter eeutury . 

On the \\H\\ i>riKvember. lt»S(>. there arrived 
at r^ostvMi Sir bMnnuul Audros. bearim; a ri>val 



llniLloi'l I lie Ki-cfjcr ni C t/iuiccLicuC >> Churl tr. 107 

commission as Oovcruor of New Jin^land. The 
K\r\^, Charles II., had annulled the Ma«K/ix.'hu- 
setts charier before liis rjeath. A new ^<}Vi^rn- 
ment had been set u]) by James I J., including all 
of northern New lingland, which Andro«, suc- 
ceerling f>urlley, had now come to ^<}vcrn, add- 
in;< Connecticut to it, ife was ol an honorable 
fVimily of the isle of Ouernsey, had tn:rvc(\ in the 
wars and had been from 1074- to 1081 thep(ov- 
ernor of New VorkjCr^mmissioned by the Duke of 
Vork before he became James JI. The Connec- 
ticut colonists had f>ecome ;<x:rjuainU'd with him 
when he was their nei;^hbor, for in 1075 he had 
come to Saybrook, claimin;^ jurisdiction west of 
Connecticut River under the Duke's patent, an<l 
they had withstood him in military array, our 
brave Hartford captain, Thomas Bull, bein;< in 
command. He had now come to New En^\iin(\ 
under royal authority to consolidate the colo- 
nies in one (\<)m\n\<)n. This was the Kln'^'h 
political policy. He maxli: war on charters at 
home as well as abroad. Andros was not a 
tyrant, though he was not the character of man 
theMass^ichusetts Puritans wanted. He was a 
loyal member ^jf the Church of P^ngland, and 
sought to make room for his opinions without 
regard to the established prejudices andcustoms. 



108 Hartford in History. 

This of course gave serious offense and aggra- 
vated the legitimate disappointment at the loss 
of their patent. If there is any stigma attach- 
ing to the actors in this war on New England 
charters, it belongs to Edward Randolph, the 
collector of His Majesty's customs at Boston. 
As to Connecticut he had submitted, July 15, 
1685, six ''Articles of Misdemeanor" against 
the colony, claiming that they had "made laws 
contrary to the laws of England," had couA^erted 
fines to their own use, had enforced an oath of 
fidelity without that of supreme allegiance, had 
denied the free exercise of religion to churchmen, 
had failed to administer justice in their courts 
and had excluded loA-alists from office. These 
charges were made to justify two writs of quo 
warranto issued against Connecticut, July 8, 
1685, both served after the return-day had 
passed. The colonists had resisted as they could 
— appealing to the King and appointing as their 
agent William Whiting, a London merchant, 
son of a Hartford gentleman and the host of 
John Winthrop, in Coleman street, years before. 
All was done to no purpose. 

Sir Edmund Andros, having established his 
authority at Boston, wrote Governor Robert 
Treat, of Connecticut, December 22, 1686, say- 



Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut's Charter. 109 

ing, "I am commanded and authorized by His 
Majesty, at my arrival in these parts, to receive 
in his name the surrender of your charter, if 
tendered by you." Thereupon the General As- 
semblvw^rote a letter to the Earl of Sunderland, 
Secretary of State, which proved to be the most 
important document in their case, for though it 
expressed a preference for union v^ith Massachu- 
setts as a final resort, it was construed in Eng- 
land, and designedly no doubt, to be a "request 
of being annexed to the Bay " and hence a sur- 
render. This it surely was not. Andros did not 
so interpret it. He continued his measures to 
"induce " the colonists " to make surrender " as 
he had been instructed to do. The delivery of 
their charter as an act of surrender would have 
answered his purpose instead of a vote. Our 
Connecticut fathers were resolved not to do 
either. They would submit if they must, but 
never surrender. Having, however, an order from 
the government, based upon a misinterpretation 
of the above letter, Andros set out for Hartford, 
October 26, 1687, to assume authority. Some 
gentlemen of his council, and sundry blue-coats, 
trumpeters and red-coats made up his escort. 

The town of Hartford at this time was only 
a scattered village, having about 1,200 inliab- 



110 Hartford in History. 

itants. Its taxable estates amounted to only 
£18,118, though it was the wealthiest town in 
the colony. In the General Assembly it was 
naturalh^ influential, having in that body 
Major John Talcott, Captain John Allyn, Ensign 
Nathaniel Stanle^^ and Mr. Cyprian Nichols ; and 
the most of the rest being in one wa^^ or another 
connected with Hartford families. Throughout 
the colon3^the sentiment was strongly averse to 
a surrender of the charter, as the documents 
sho^^, but there were some who foresaw the 
final issue and questioned the wisdom of a con- 
test. Among these ^vere Major Talcott and 
Captain Alhm, the secretary. This opinion, 
which they expressed to the Assembly, March 
30, 1687, called forth another and decisive vote 
against surrender. Doubtless also this awak- 
ened suspicion concerning them, for at the meet- 
ing on the 15th of June, sundry of the court 
desired the charter brought into their presence, 
Avhich apparently satisfied them as to their 
faithfulness as keepers. The secretary, how- 
ever, made such a record as to excuse himself if 
it did disappear, for he wrote: *'The Governor 
bid him put it into the box again and lay it on 
the table, and leave the key in the box, which he 
did forthwith." It \vas useless, these men saw, 



I 



Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut' s Charter. Ill 

to urge expedienc^^ upon the freemen of Connec- 
ticut, committed to an obstinate affection for 
their charter. 

It must have been toward night, the 31st of 
October, \vhen Governor Andros, having trav- 
eled that day from Norwich, crossed the river at 
Wethersfield ferrv and with the escort of the 
county troop entered Hartford, where he was 
greeted with becoming honors. Some conference 
was held that evening between him and the 
General Assembh' in their chamber — the second 
floor of the meeting-house. We are sure they 
\vere a serious company of Connecticut fathers 
Avho sat b^' candle light about the ro^^ally- 
attired Sir Edmund. He onh^ wanted a vote or 
an act of surrender ! What happened ? Trum- 
bull says : "The charter was brought and laid 
upon the table." "The lights were instanth' 
extinguished, and one Captain Wads worth, of 
Hartford, in the most silent and secret manner, 
carried off the charter and secreted it in a hollow 
tree." " The candles were officioush^ re-lighted, 
but the patent was gone." Such is the tradi- 
tion, which he recorded a century'- ago. So far 
back as 1780 the tree was known and then 
"esteemed sacred " as that in which the charter 
Avas concealed. Every schoolboy knows where 



112 Hartford in History. 

it stood before the Wyllys mansion. Governor 
Roger Wolcott, who was then nearly nine years 
old and had distinct recollections of other mat- 
ters of that time, who also had every oppor- 
tunity to learn the truth later, in 1759 wrote in 
his memoir: "They ordered the charters to be 
set on the table, and, unhappih- or happih^ all 
the candles were snuffed out at once, and when 
the^^ were lighted the charters were gone." He 
told President Stiles, five A^ears later, that 
Nathaniel Stanley took one charter and John 
Talcott the other ''from Sir Edmund Andros in 
the Hartford meeting-house, the lights blown 
out." Our historians are agreed in the belief 
that Connecticut's charter was hidden in the 
famous oak at some time during that trouble- 
some period. When this hiding occurred, which 
charter was hidden and who hid it, are nuts of 
that Halloween night for the historians to 
crack. The natural harmony of accounts and 
traditions is, that Stanley, who was an active 
promoter of the revolution in 1689, took the 
original charter in the darkness and Talcott 
passed the duplicate out to Wadsworth, not 
then a member of the Assembly. Either charter 
may then have been hidden a short time in the 
oak standing near the mansion of one of the 



Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut' s Charter. 113 

authorized keepers. Some think that this hiding 
occurred the previous June, when the Secret ar\' 
left the charter on the table as ordered. One or 
the other may have been later in the keeping of 
Andrew Leete, of Guilford, as the tradition is. 
The colonial records show that Wadsworth se- 
cured the duplicate charter in that ''very trouble- 
some season " and was thereafter the custodian 
of it, for which "faithful and good service" he 
was rewarded in 1715 with twenty shillings. It 
is certain that on the evening w^hen some super- 
stitious persons were wont to believe that 
"devils, witches and other mischief-making be- 
ings are all abroad," the charter of Connecticut 
v^as spirited away, and it was not Sir Edmund 
Andros who did it. Most important is it for us 
to note that the sentiment of Hartford must 
have been strong against any surrender to have 
made such a daring procedure of one or more of 
its townsmen possible or safe. 

Which of the charters \vas the original ? 
The other was the duplicate and the one once in 
Captain Wadsworth's keeping. In a legal sense 
both ma3^have been so regarded. The surrender 
of either would have answered the purpose. 
The one at the Capitol is now so considered, 
and mav have been received as such a fe^v vears 



114 Hartford in History. 

after the Revolution on account of its well-pre- 
serA^ed condition. As to which was the original 
in the historical sense, the clue is found in the 
meaning of the words " P^ fine five pounds," 
which were appended to one, as proA-en by sev- 
eral early manuscript copies. The Historical 
Societ3^ has a certified "Copy of the original 
charter remaining in the Secretary's Oflftce," 
October 30, 1782, which has these words. As 
they are lacking in the charter at the Capitol, 
they must haA^e been on the fragment Avdth the 
Historical Society. It is uoaa'- determined bA^ the 
entry in the accounts of the clerks AA^ho receiA^ed 
the payments for patents, that this clause noted 
the fee on the original charter and not the price 
of the duplicate.* Therefore the Historical 



*An examination recently made b^- an expert, Mr. Hubert Hall, 
F. S. A., of Her Majestj-'s Public Record Office, has brought to 
light the entry in the accovmts of the Clerks of the Hanaper, made 
at the granting of the charter, and communicated to the Connec- 
ticut Historical Society in his letter of October 26, 189S. It is as 
follows : 

Sabbati, decimo die Maii [1662] 
De Carta Gubernat[oris] et Societat[is] Coloniae de 
Connecticut inNovaAnglia in America de con[ces- 
sione] sibi et successoribus, ..... viij li. ix s. 
De fine inde, . . . v li. 
De Carta de Duplicamen ear[un]dem l[itte]rar[um] 

paten[tium] xx s. iiij d. 

Translation. 
Saturday, the tenth day of May [1662] 
For the Charter of the Governor and Company of the 
Colony of Connecticut in New England in America 
of grant to them and their successors, . . . viij li. ix s. 
For the fee thereupon, . . . v li. 
For the Duplicate Charter of the same letters patent, xx s. iiij d. 



Hartford the Keeper of Connecticut'' s Charter. 115 

Societ^^ has the one which was first brought 
over and accepted by the freemen, and if Wads- 
worth hid the one he secured in the oak it was 
that now framed in the Capitol. Whatever 
may have been the stor^^of this fragment, it was 
brought to light by a pupil of the Hartford 
Grammar School, in 1817, who saw the mother- 
in-law of the South Church minister about to 
put it into a bonnet. It had been given her b^^ 
the daughter-in-law of George Wyllys. He res- 
cued it and 3'ears afterwards found out what 
his old parchment was. This 3^outh was John 
Bo3^d, in 1858 elected secretary of Connecticut. 

At the time the charter was hidden no one 
supposed it would ever be revived. Those who 
did it in no wise thought they had thus saved 
their government, but onh' themselves from a 
surrender. Andros assumed authority, coiumis- 
sioned magistrates and united Connecticut to 
the dominion of New England. After two years, 
however, a revolution came on. He was im- 
prisoned at Boston, and finally sent home to' 
England. Meanwhile William and Mary 
ascended the throne. Then Connecticut, on the 
9th of May, 1689, brought out its sacred char- 
ter and resumed its former government. His 
Majesty graciously allowed this continuance of 



116 Hartford in History. 

their ''rights and privileges," which were judged 
in law not to have been invalidated ; and 
although repeated attempts were made later to 
have the charter revoked, it stood until 1818, 
v^hen it was made the basis of the ne\v constitu- 
tion. 

The boys and girls of Hartford have another 
interest in Connecticut's charter. After the Rev- 
olution, the State ceded its claims to those un- 
known lands of Winthrop's time to the United 
States, excepting a tract 120 miles in breadth 
on Lake Erie. This was called the Western Re- 
serve. In 1795 this tract was sold for $1,200,- 
000, with which our School Fund was 
established, a precious legacy for the children to 
protect as the fathers did the charter. 

TT J Charter Oak fell on the 21st of August, 
1856 — eight hundred years old they say — and 
part of its hollow trunk is in our keeping ; but 
its scion on our Bushnell Park has been growing 
strong these fift^- years. So the blessings of a 
good government are perpetuated and passed 
on from generation to generation. 



•■^u 



■^**~ti» ■■ 






T-- 



*;,- .- 



«i: =: 



.^Sr" ,' ' 






Hartford tlie Capital. 



By Henry C. Robinson. 

THE Latin word caput, a head, has been 
serviceable to our language in producing 
useful substantives and adjectives, verbs and 
adverbs. Its own derivation is doubtful. Many 
scholars find it in the Greek Kecf>aXy. When the 
Avord capital was first applied to a city as a seat 
of government, it is not eas^^ to discover. The 
Latin \vord Capitolinus, from which our capital 
is derived, was applied to the temple of Jupiter 
Maximus, and then to the three hills which 
made the one Capitoline hill. Here the Roman 
senate met, and in all the Roman provinces 
there was a capitol for the worship of Jupiter. 
Quite likeh^ the word capital, as defining gov- 
ernmental headquarters, is derived from the 
earlier use of its cognate word capitol. Webster 
defines capital as the chief city of a State, its 
metropolis, and quotes Macauley in this use of 
the word. Of course this definition would not 
exactly fit its meaning in general modern use 
and in the scope of this article. The chief city 
of the State of New York, its metropolis, is 

117 



118 



Hartford in History 



NcAv York ; its capital is Albany. The chief city 
of Illinois, its metropolis, is Chicago ; its capital 
is Springfield. 

When our good fathers came down into this 
valle^^ to find larger freedom and give scope to 
broader views than they left behind them in 
Massachusetts, they settled in Newtown (some- 
times spelled, in the ancient records, Newton 
and New Towne), Dorchester, and Watertown. 
Soon after the settlement of these plantations, 
the General Court changed the name of New- 
town to Hartford, which was also spelled in 
several wa^^s, of Dorchester to Windsor, and of 
Watertown to WA^thersfield, since euphonized to 
Wethersfield. The first General Court was held 
at Newtow^n-, in April, 1636. Its members were 
Roger Ludlow, Mr. Steele, Mr. Phelps, Mr. 
Westwood and Mr. Ward. A session was held 
in Dorchester, and another in Watertown, soon 
after. Three other sessions were held the same 
3^ear at Newtown. At the session in Feb- 
ruary of this 3^ear, old style, the boundaries of 
the towns were fixed by the General Court, and 
their names changed. On the 14th of January-, 
1639, the people of the plantations met at 
Hartford and adopted their Fundamental Or- 
ders, which is the first written constitution in 



Hartford the Capital. 119 

human history adopted by a free people, in the 
name of no sovereign but themselves, and ac- 
knowledging no allegiance but to God. 

The sessions of the General Court, called for 
by this sacred instrument, were usually held at 
Hartford, and Hartford at once became practi- 
calh-- the capital of the colony. 

For many years there was little difference 
between the three original towns in wealth and 
population. Hartford and Windsor were some- 
what more populous and wealthier than Weth- 
ersiield. Why one community should grow, and 
another, its neighbor, show no gain, or perhaps 
even show a loss, is a question easy to ask and 
sometimes difficult to answer. Forecasts of 
future growth, made by the ^4sest seers, have 
not infrequently proved vain. Sixt^^ years ago 
there was strife in Michigan between the two 
small towns of Detroit and Monroe for prece- 
dence. The strife continued for a term of years, 
and the disappointed land owners of Monroe 
looked in astonishment at the greater progress 
of their neighbor. By the census of 1890 De- 
troit has more than two hundred thousand in- 
habitants and Monroe less than six thousand. 
The different outskirts of the little city of Chi- 
cago were sharp rivals for a quarter of a century, 



120 Hartford in History. 

and why some of the districts grew, while others 
were stagnant, it was difficult, at the time, to say . 
Indeed, for many years Chicago itself held Mil- 
waukee in wholesome dread, as a coming great 
rival western metropolis. When the friends of 
Duluth, upon Lake Superior, asked for congres- 
sional aid, and painted the future of their port 
in rosy colors, Mr. Proctor Knott, in a speech in 
Congress, which is now almost a classic, derided 
the commerce of the "unsalted sea," and made 
merry over the future of the city. If you will read 
his witty speech again, you will find many sen- 
tences which describe in satire the conversion of 
the Avilderness into business centres, and which 
to-day may be read as the language of prophec3\ 

In a less striking way we might show the 
unlooked-for growth and the unlooked-for deca- 
dence of many of our Connecticut towns. Hart- 
ford was central, and its grist mill was conven- 
ient. Perhaps these two causes contributed 
much to making it practically the capital before 
it became so by law. 

In 1662, Connecticut secured from Charles 
II. a royal charter. It was adroith^ drawn and 
adroitly obtained, for which high praise belongs 
to Governor Winthr op. Its provisions were not 
unlike the provisions of the old constitution, and 



Hartford the Capital 121 

were altogether satisfactory^ to the self-govern- 
ing people of Connecticut ; indeed, its terms were 
nearly all prepared by Connecticut and her skill- 
ful representative. The charter became opera- 
tive, from the colonial point of viev^, by the act 
of the people assembled at Hartford. As the 
record puts it: "Patent of charter publiquely 
read in audienc of ye Freemen and declared to 
belong to them and their successors." — Col. Rec. 
Vol. I., p. 384. Judge Swift wrote later that 
''the application of the people for this charter 
and their voluntary acceptance of it gave efficacy 
to the government it constituted, and not the 
royal signature. ' ' 

Dr. Hoadle^^ thinks that the original charter, 
after the session of the Assembh^ in June, 1687, 
when it was, by order of the Governor, left in its 
box upon the table, was taken away by 
Nathaniel Stanley and John Talcott. Scholars 
have argued that the instrument which Captain 
Wadsworth seized after Sir Edmund Andros had 
been left in the dark, and which was secured in 
the Oak, was a duplicate. The late Mr. John 
Boyd, of Winsted, rescued two-thirds of a sheet 
of it from the open scissors of good Mrs. Bissell, 
who was just giving it shape as a new spring 
bonnet. The latest investigations seem to sup- 



122 Hartford in History. 

port the theor^^ that the instrument which is 
preserved in the Secretary's office is the duplicate 
and that the fragment in the rooms of the His- 
torical Society is the original. The difference is 
chiefly material as a matter of curiosity, as the 
instruments are undoubtedly contemporaneous. 
The charter conveyed to the good people of the 
Connecticut colony- not only their own terri- 
tory, but also that of New Haven. Until the 
delivery of the charter of 1662, the two colonies 
ran upon many similar lines of government and 
self-government. New Haven insisted upon 
church membership as a prerequisite to the free- 
man's oath. She placed less reliance upon the 
voice of the people and more upon the utter- 
ances of Scripture. 

The story of the conflicts of the two colonies 
is an interesting one. New Haven made a brave 
fight against the inevitable. The charter virtu- 
ally put an end to her struggle for independence. 
On the 9th of October, 1662, the General Assem- 
bly, by which new name the General Court was 
to be known under the charter, passed the fol- 
lowing law: "It is enacted and decreed by the 
Freemen, that ye Town of Hartford for future 
shal be the settled place for the convocation of 
the Generall Assemblv, at all times, vnles it be 



Hartford the Capital 123 

vpon occasion of epidemicall diseases, sickness, 
or ye like." This was the first legislative act 
which made Hartford the fixed capital of the 
colony. The early practice of holding the Gen- 
eral Court and the elections at Hartford had 
been continued as a matter of convenience and 
usage. 

When the two colonies were fin ally united in 
1665, Connecticut had fourteen, and New Haven 
six, towns. In 1701, New Haven was made an 
associate capital with Hartford by the follow- 
ing vote of the General Assembly : 

" Whereas the Generall Courts and Courts of Assistants 
have formerly in a constant way been holden at Hartford 
in the months of May and October annually: It is now 
ordered and enacted by the Deputy Governour, Councill 
and Representatives in Generall Court assembled : That the 
Generall Court and Court of Assistants shall be holden at 
Hartford in the month of May onely from ytar to year, and 
that the Generall Court and Court of Assistants that for- 
merly hath been accustomed to be kept at Hartford in the 
month of October shall be annually kept at Newhaven at 
the time accustomed for the sitting of those courts, viz. the 
Court of Assistants on the first Thursday in the month of 
October, and the Generall Court on the second Thursdaj^ in 
the same month, any lawe, usage or custometothe contrary'- 
notwithstanding." 

In addition to this vote, it was also voted 
that the records and books should be trans- 



124- Hartford in History. 

mitted to New Haven at the October session, 
and they were carried in little trunks studded 
with brass-headed nails, which are still in exist- 
ence, and in the custody of the State Librar^^ 
The October session, 1712, was held at Hart- 
ford, because the transportation of the records 
was deemed to be ** prejudicial" to them. The 
Ma^" session, 1713, however, re-established the 
rights of New Haven. 

The Constitution of 1818, our present con- 
stitution, continued the double capital feature 
of the State, and required sessions of the General 
Assembly to be held in alternate 3xars at Hart- 
ford and New Haven. The inconvenience of this 
s^^stemwas endured because of New Haven's sen- 
sitiveness, which had not abated from the time 
of the enforced union, and which was stimu- 
lated b^^ the act of 1701, by which that beauti- 
ful city was made a joint capital. But the same 
logic of events was w^orking to put an end to a 
SA^stem of two capitals for so small a State, a 
s^^stem which provoked many jests outside of 
the commonwealth, and criticisms as man3^, if 
not so sharp, as those which our present unique 
and undemocratic system of legislative represen- 
tation receives from the rest of the world. The 
State houses were too small, and the New Haven 



Hartford the Capital. 125 

building was unfortunate in its stucco material, 
which was constanth^ dropping off, and whose 
repair made an unattractive constellation of 
patches. Efforts were made at several times 
for such a change in the constitution as would 
make Hartford the sole capital. Any change in 
the constitution requires a majority vote in the 
House of Representatives, and at the next ses- 
sion a two-thirds vote of each house and then a 
majority vote by the people. It was not diffi- 
cult to get the first legislative action in favor of 
a single capital, as the geography and traditions 
of a majority of the towns favored the claims 
and arguments of Hartford. But the second 
stage was quite another affair. An interior his- 
tory of these struggles, written accurately, 
would make interesting reading. At one time 
two votes in the lower house from a northwest- 
erly town in the county, with a voting list of 
about two hundred, were cast against Hartford, 
to everybody's surprise. It was discovered that 
the intelligent lawmakers from that town had 
been persuaded b^^ a distinguished lobbyist in 
the neighborhood, whose retainer by New 
Haven had not been suspected, that the loss of 
its capital character by New Haven would stop 
the running of trains on the Canal Road, then 



126 Hartford in History. 

SO called, and that the wood lots of one of the 
representatives, which were worth $25 an acre, 
would consequently shrink in valtie. The change 
of these two votes made the defeat of the amend- 
ment sure. In a later contest, when fourteen of 
the twent\'-one votes in the Senate seemed as- 
sured, to the intense surprise of the Hartford 
enthusiasts, a senator in the neighborhood of 
the cit^^ voted in the negative. His uncharitable 
neighbors found an explanation for his A-ote in 
his receipt, soon after the session, of an elegant 
new carriage, valued at two thousand dollars, 
from one of the fine manufactories of which New 
Haven has alwa^^s been justly proud. The car- 
riage was thought by his aforesaid uncharitable 
neighbors to be more expensive than the sena- 
tor's means, or previous experience in vehicles, 
would justify. 

But the inevitable came in October, 1873, 
when the people ratified the constitutional 
amendment which made Hartford the sole cap- 
ital. The total vote of the State was: Yes, 
36,853; No, 30,685. The vote of New Haven 
was: Yes, 32; No, 10,156; and of Hartford: 
Yes, 6,916; No, 9. 

It appeared from the returns that the vote 
of New Haven was peculiar — in one or more of 



1 



Hartford the Capital. 127 

the districts the negative vote exceeded the 
number of registered voters. This provoked 
sharp comment in the newspapers which had 
championed the claims of Hartford, and the 
w^ord fraud was written in man^^ sizes of type. 
In the discussion, little attention -was given to 
the vote in Hartford. While in no Avard in 
Hartford was the registration exceeded, it is 
noticeable that in two of the wards the entire 
vote was polled. That there could be a gather- 
ing of the freemen, from which neither necessary 
absence nor indifference would detain an in- 
dividual voter, perhaps nobody was prepared to 
believe. The importance of partisan scrutiny, 
and challenge at the polls, is obvious from the 
experience of popular suffrage in New Haven 
and Hartford on this occasion. In January, 
1879, the first session of the General Assembh^ 
was held in the new State House. 

Going back to the beginnings of the colony, 
we find that the meeting-house of the First 
Church had a court chamber where the General 
Court was held. The election sermons, delivered 
with vigor and at great length by some eminent 
divine, commenced with the earliest sessions of 
the General Court and continued until 1830, 
when thev were abolished. The custom re- 



128 Hartford in History. 

niained in force in Massachusetts for a half 
century longer. In the year 1720, the first 
State House was finished and stood on Court 
House square, so-called, now City Hall square. 
It was in this building that the Council met on 
the dark da^^ in 1780. An adjournment was 
proposed, as the general belief was that the day 
of judgment was at hand. Old Abraham Daven- 
port objected to the adjournment, and said: 
"That day is either at hand or it is not ; if it is 
not, there is no cause for adjournment ; if it is, I 
choose to be found doing m^^ dut^-. I w^ish, 
therefore, that candles may be brought." 

In 1783, the State House was partly burned 
during the celebration of peace. It cost £750, to 
which the town of Hartford contributed £250. 
The next State House in Hartford, which is now 
known as City Hall, Avas built in 1792. It cost 
$52,480, of which the town of Hartford paid 
$3,500, and the countyof Hartford $1,500. Our 
present constitution was adopted in that build- 
ing in 1818. General Lafayette and Presidents 
Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Johnson and Grant were 
received within its walls. The first State House, 
which was built in New Haven, w^as erected in 
1763, on the Green, fronting Temple street. 
Another State House was built in New Haven, 



Hartford the Capital. 129 

in 1830, and when Hartford was made the 
single capital, the State presented the building 
to the city of New Haven. The 1874 session of 
the General Assembh^ w^as the last one held 
there. The first session of the General Cotirt 
at New Haven, in 1701, was probably held in 
the church on the Green. In 1720 the Assist- 
ants met in the Yale College library room. Soon 
after 1728 the count3^ court-house was built in 
New Haven and the Legislature probabh^ met 
there until 1763. The present capitol was 
erected upon grounds purchased of Trinit^^ Col- 
lege by the citv at a cost of $600,000, and the 
city also contributed $500,000 to the expense 
of the building. 

The second article of our constitution provides 
that each of the three powers of government 
shall be confided to a separate magistrac3% to 
^t: '* those w^hich are legislative to one; those 
^which are executive to another; and those 
which are judicial to another." A similar dis- 
tribution of the powers of government is com- 
mon to all modern constitutions. This stately 
building provides a home for all these magis- 
tracies. The Legislature has its halls for the 
Senate and House of Representatives and its com- 
mittee rooms ; The Governor, Treasurer, Secre- 



130 Hartford in History. 

tary and Comptroller have their chambers, and 
the Supreme Court of Errors has a beautiful 
room opening to the west. The commissions — 
railroad, educational, insurance, labor, etc. — are 
all provided with proper accommodations. 
Upon its walls and in its halls are found memo- 
rials of several of the State's most eminent 
patriots, and the precious flags of the regiments 
which honored the State in the civil war, and 
the figure-head of the old Hartford, are treas- 
ured in appropriate cases. 

The capable and patriotic citizens, under 
whose watchful care this beautiful and appro- 
priate building was erected, have received, and 
should continue to receive, the gratitude of our 
cit3^ and State. It is believed that the construc- 
tion of the edifice, from basement to summit, 
was unstained b\- the touch of jobberj-, corrup- 
tion, speculation, or fraud. All the members of 
the commission are entitled to a share of this 
honor — it is not invidious, however, to say that 
he who was most activeh' and constantly en- 
gaged in the construction should be especialh^ 
remembered, our distinguished fellow -citizen, 
venerable in our esteem, honorable in our pride, 
and warm in our affections, the Hon. Alfred E. 
Burr. The onU' remaining trace of the old 



Hartford the Capital 131 

double capital svstem is found in the conven- 
tions of the ^reat political parties which are 
held in alternation at Hartford and New Haven. 
It remains to add a few words of Hartford 
as the capital, in the Macauley use of the word, 
the chief citv of a State. In this respect the 
honors are still divided between the two fair 
cities of Hartford and New Haven. New Haven 
excels in population, is the home of a noble 
national universitv, is a seaport and is a manu- 
facturing centre. Her graceful elms and senti- 
nel rocks add to her other many natural 
charms. She is the principal home of a great 
railroad system, and excels in many another 
metropolitan feature. 

Hartford has attractive parks, unsurpassed 
schools, institutions of benevolence, learning and 
relioion. Her architecture in churches and 
soldiers' arch, and public buildings, her beautiful 
homes and busy factories, her daily journals, 
worthy competitors with the best, her leader- 
ship in the liberal professions and in insurance 
and banking, her manufacture of bicycles and 
fine machinerv, her excellent trolley and steam 
railroads, are all significant of the industry, in- 
telligence, morahty, enterprise, benevolence and 
wealth of her people. It is left for other chapters 



132 Hartford in History. 

in this volume to show the history and standing 
of the Capital City in literature, and business, 
and man 3' other things. 

In all the activities of life, educational or 
commercial, in the fine arts, useful arts and 
religion, the record of local history is one to fill 
her citizens ^th pride. To mention names of 
men who have been eminent as statesmen, 
authors, inventors, mechanics, philanthropists, 
educators, merchants, judges, law^'-ers, divines, 
journalists, ph^-sicians and surgeons, specialists 
in the treatment of the need^^, the insane, and 
the deaf and dumb, is unnecessary and unwise 
in the purposes of this article. It is due, how- 
ever, to the stor^' of Hartford to suggest, that, 
from the days of Hooker and Ludlow to the 
present moment, our city has never lacked wise 
and energetic leaders, and, better still, a hearty 
and enthusiastic people, sensitive to the honor 
of Hartford, alive to the progress of humanity-, 
guided b3^the best and most advanced thoughts 
of Christian civilization, social refinement, and 
political development. The people have been 
united and harmonious in action, have given 
freely of the work of their hands, and of the 
money accumulations of their thrift, to answer 
to every call of patriotism, whether the flag of 



Hartford the Capital. 133 

the hour was Old Glor^^, or the Three Vines, or 
the Hart fording the stream. 

REFERENCE BOOKS. 
Connecticut Colonial Records. 
Connecticut Legislative Journals. 

Bi-Centennial Celebration of Connecticut Legisla- 
ture. 
Constitutions and Charters of Connecticut. 



Hartford in Literature. 



By Annie Eliot Trumbull. 

^^npHE character and scholarship of its found- 
I ers," says Mr. Pancoast, in his ** Intro- 
duction to American Literature," " made 
New England the most intellectual of all the 
Colonies." Even a casual view of the colonial 
civilization proves the truth of this statement 
and renders plain the lines so sharply drawn be- 
tween these New England colonies and those 
farther south, in their relation to literature. It 
is no wonder then that upon Hartford, the cen- 
ter of much political and religious agitation — 
that sign and evidence of independent thought — 
should have been set, from the first, the seal of 
literar\^ promise and literar\^ achievement. If 
the attempt were made to review all the men 
and women connected, continuously or inciden- 
tally, with literature, whose birthplace or some- 
time residence this city has been, a chapter of the 
prescribed length of this one could be little else 
than a catalogue of proper names. For a glance 
over the two hundred and fifty years of her his- 
tory would seem to indicate that not only one in 

134 



I 



Hartford in Literature. 135 

every ten inhabitants, but every stranger tran- 
siently^ ^thin her gates, has contributed some- 
thing to that literary atmosphere, her boast and 
her distinction. It is almost a necessity there- 
fore to make some sort of classification in order 
to gain anything like a clear idea of the develop- 
ment of this literary tendenc3^ as something 
apart from the city's financial and mercantile 
prosperit^^ : but it w^ill not be possible to 
separate those who are, strictly speaking, na- 
tives of Hartford, from those who have chosen 
to make it their home, nor can the number of 
years of their residence be taken into account, 
for influence upon a community is something not 
to be reckoned by months or j^ears. The group- 
ing, therefore, must bear some relation to the 
nature of the production, and the conditions 
under which it is put forth, although the 
boundaries of any such groups must cut one 
another here and there, since few writers con- 
fine themselves absolutely to one form of art. 
For convenience we will divide the writers we 
have to consider into three periods, the Early, 
the Middle and the Later. The first will include 
all those born before 1800 ; the second, those 
born between 1800 and 1820, whose work is 
finished ; and the third, those whose birth ^vas 



136 Hartford in History. 

subsequent to 1820, as well as others who are 
still, in 1898, pursuing their literar3' labors in 
one form or another. 

Really antedating that which we would 
call the Earh' period, is a name prominent in 
Hartford and colonial annals — that of Thomas 
Hooker (1586-1647). First preacher, he was 
also first author and first publicist, and it is 
by no means only upon that which, as a 
Hartford divine has said, is "in some sense 
Mr. Hooker's most distinguishing and abiding 
monument," the sermon on democracy, that his 
claim to literary distinction rests. Neither this 
nor other of his long list of published sermons 
belongs to thedepartmentof literature, since, ac- 
cording to Dr. Walker, he was unwilling to give 
his time to work which he considered somewhat 
aside from that to which he had been called — 
"saw none of them 'through the press' and 
though authorizing the issue of some of them, 
imparted to none the advantage of an author's 
customary review^." The one exception which 
w^e ma^^ consider as a distinctively literar}' con- 
tribution, is his "Surveyof the Summe of Church 
Discipline," and in this, differing mightih^ from 
the writers of a later day, he professed it "be- 
yond his call to please the niceness of men's pal- 



j^ 



Hartford in Literature. 137 

ates, with any quaintnesse of language. ' ' Never- 
theless, it affords an excellent illustration of 
what w^as Thomas Hooker's style— forceful, pic- 
turesque, often involved, but permeated with 
the illumination of a glowing faith. 

After his death w-e pass over a hundred 
years, during which no name appears upon 
which it is necessary to dwell, the written re- 
mains of that period being confined to homi- 
letics, the somewhat colorless entries of official 
records, and curious and not too intelligible cor- 
respondence, all of which need the reviving touch 
of the historical imagination to kindle them 
into interest. About the middle of the 18th cen- 
tury, we come upon a group of men w^ho did 
more than am^ others to establish the promi- 
nence in letters w^hicli Hartford has ever since 
retained. The "Hartford Wits" were a few 
trained men who, giving their time and strength 
to literature, both in a periodical called the 
"Anarchiad," and in various tracts, produced 
in rapid succession, satire, verse, pasquinade 
and serious prose, of which much remains to the 
present day as evidence of their talent and 
facility . 

John Trumbull (1750-1831) w^as, perhaps, 
the most gifted of the galaxy. President Moses 



138 Hartford in History. 

Coit T^'ler has much to sa_v of his marvellous 
precocity and various aptitudes. A native of 
Westbury, he began the study of Greek and 
Latin at the age of five, at which period he may 
be said to have definitely decided upon the pro- 
fession of letters, and he was prepared to enter 
Yale College at seven. Fortunatelv he was 
pronounced a little ^^outhful even for the joys of 
Freshman A^ear and postponed his entrance un- 
til 1763. A tutor, after graduation, and later 
a student in the Boston office of John Adams, he 
came to Hartford in 1781 and became one of 
the club of which the other members were 
Humphreys, Barlow and Hopkins, and which 
busied itself, to great effect, in the politics of the 
time. Later, made State Attorney, he took an 
active part in public affairs for thirty- years. 
Thus the most stirring period of his life was 
spent in Hartford and much of that period in 
the service of literature. Always ready to break 
a lance in the cause of liberty, his wit and bril- 
liancy saved him from the rej^roach sometimes 
attending reformers. From the day when, with 
Dwight,he struck for the honor of the elegancies 
of literature as opposed to the heavier scholastic 
pursuits, through his attack upon the giant 
''Dulness," as well as through the political 



Hartford in Literature. 139 

essays published before the outbreak of the Rev- 
olution, to the most famous of his satires, " Mc- 
Fingal," he deals telling blows for liberty and 
reform. "McFingal," a poem in four cantos, 
in which the Tory cause is inade ridiculous by 
its defense in the mouth of the hero, and in 
which wit is sometimes injured by coarseness, 
was a slashing attack, directed b3^ patriotism, 
guided by humor and stinging with sarcasm, in 
the cause which was that of ever^^ New England 
patriot. 

The author of the '' Columbiad," Joel Bar- 
low (1755—1812), came to this city when he 
was about twent^^-eight and spent five 3'ears 
here, editing Dr. Watts's psalms, writing ''The 
Vision of Columbus," and incidentally publish- 
ing a newspaper. While pursuing his studies 
at Yale, he fought the British during vacation ; 
studying law for awhile after graduation, he 
abandoned it for theology and became a chap- 
lain ; member of Congress from Georgia, agent 
for a bubble land company-, a partisan of the 
Girondists in France and a critic of aristocratic 
government in England ; consul at Algiers un- 
der Washington, a cosmopolite in Paris and a 
manorial proprietor in the District of Columbia, 
Joel Barlow remains one of the most picturesque 



140 Hartford in History-. 

figures in our early history, and it was in Hart- 
ford, as we have seen, that he composed "The 
Vision of Columbus," later polished and devel- 
oped into the "Columbiad," perhaps the most 
ambitious poetical composition of the New 
World. 

Colonel David Humphreys (1753-1818), a 
member of the legislature from his native town 
of Derby, and thus often living in Hartford, was 
a third member of the little group which op- 
posed the "progress of dulness." In military 
and diplomatic life for many years, he died after 
serving his countr\' for the last time as officer in 
the war of 1812. His poems, like his life, were 
notable for patriotism. "An Address to the 
Armies of the United States" is one of them. 

Dr. Lemuel Hopkins (1750-1801) completed 
the literary^ club. He wrote chiefly a kind of 
satiric verse, which, while not to be considered 
as poetry, added to the caustic flavor of the 
"Anarchiad," and the "Echo," specimens of the 
journalistic literature of the day. 

But the most familiar name of this time is 
not that of one of the Hartford Wits, but that 
of a man who, born in Hartford, long outlived 
them, and of one whose work is known to thou- 
sands who never heard of theirs. A scholar, 



Hartford in Literature. 141 

rather than a hterary man, was Noah Webster 
(1758-1843), the compiler of the dictionary, 
and yet one whose labors are so closely allied 
to literature that the^^can not be left out in any 
mention of such achievements. Although the 
results of his efforts to establish the regulations 
of an American language, b^^ dictionary' and 
spelling book, have been largely set aside as too 
arbitrary, and the lexicon that bears his name 
is by no means that which he bestowed upon 
the country, his aim was no unworthy one, and 
it brought about the first of a valuable series of 
similar attempts. 

Close at hand, ready to carry on the tradi- 
tion, comes a second group of writers, most of 
them born in the last decade of the 18th century, 
either in Hartford or in some neighboring place 
which looked to Hartford as a center of thought 
and action. Chief among the poetically inclined 
was Lydia Huntley Sigourney (1791-1865), 
who for more than fifty years made this city 
her home. Although later critics must consider 
most of the eulogies pronounced bA' her contem- 
porar\' admirers upon Mrs. Sigourney 's verse 
too exalted, she remains a conspicuous and 
interesting figure in the literary history, not 
only of Connecticut, but of the country, A 



142 Hartford in History. ' 

woman of undeniable gifts and great industry, 
unselfishly devoted to the benefit of her kind, 
she had an imagination to perceive the beautiful 
and the picturesque, and a graceful facility, with 
occasionally an unusual felicity, of expression. 
She was considered especialh^ happy in her " oc- 
casional" poems, and seldom failed to respond 
to the very numerous demands upon her for this 
sort of verse. 

Born a few years after Mrs. Sigourne^^ but 
dying many years before her, at the age of 
thirty-two, John G. C. Brainerd (1796-1828), a 
native of New London, but editor of the " Con- 
necticut Mirror," in Hartford, contributed no 
small share to Connecticut's prestige. Brain- 
erd' s feeling for nature, his command of musical 
form, the correctness of his ear, and, more than 
all, his often distinctly and unmistakably poetic 
phrase, mark him as a writer of genuine endow- 
ment, upon whom time might have bestowed a 
Irrger strength and a wider fame. 

Emma Willard (1787-1870), devoted to 
and prominent in the cause of the higher educa- 
tion of women, and the author of the song 
"Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep," received 
much of her early education in Hartford and 
was a friend of Mrs. Sigourne}^ 



Hartford in Literature. 143 

Of this time, too, were Samuel G. Goodrich 
(1793-1860), better known as ''Peter Parley," 
Theodore D wight, Jr., both writers on miscella- 
neous subjects, and Carlos Wilcox (1794-1827), 
one of the long line of Hartford clerg3^men who 
have profitably given much of their time to 
general literary work, while John P. Brace 
(1793-1872), coming here from Litchfield and 
remaining here about thirty years, not only ex- 
erted an important influence upon the educa- 
tional methods of his time, but y^rote two 
novels of early New England life. 

With the beginning of the second or Middle 
period it will be more convenient to attempt a 
further classification, namely, one distinguish- 
ing those to whom literary value is but second- 
ary, an incidental effect of professional labors 
whose vital value lies in other directions, and 
those to whom, to quote Professor Johnson, 
"form is the criterion of literature," in other 
words, the poets, the writers of fiction, essays 
and for the daily press. 

With the very beginning of the Middle pe- 
riod, and following naturally after Mr. Brace in 
this connection, though preceding him as a 
teacher, comes Catherine Beecher (1800-1878), 
a progressive woman, before the term threat- 



li-i Hartford in History. 

ened to become meaningless — a teacher, a wint- 
er, a loYcr of the practical and the intellectual, 
though with perhaps no over-powering affec- 
tion for the ideal. A voluminous composer, she 
printed work chiefly on educational and domes- 
tic matters. While touching on these two, 
w^hose efforts towards a wider education were 
so conscientious and so successful, we may in- 
clude Avhat must necessarily be a brief mention 
of Dr. Henry Barnard, whose name is synon^^- 
mous with that of education in Connecticut, 
and whose consistent labor for it has extended 
through the years of a happih^ prolonged life, 
and has embraced, among other earnest activi- 
ties, the publication of over 800 treatises upon 
special subjects. 

Of men belonging to the learned professions 
who have found time to turn aside into the paths 
of pure literature, the names of James Dixon 
(1814—1873) and Henry C. Deming (1815— 
1872) occur in the Middle period as contempo- 
raries in such w^ork. Both were lawyers, and 
both impressive speakers ; the former wrote 
verse with ease and precision, and five of his 
sonnets are preserved in Leigh Hunt's ''Book 
of the Sonnet"; the latter accomplished some 
French translations and a life of U. S. Grant. 



Hartford in Literature. 145 

Isaac W. Stuart (1809 — 1861), a contemporary, 
though not a lawyer, wrote a Hfe of Nathan 
Hale and one of Governor Trumbull, the florid 
style of which latter book has not prevented its 
acceptance as authority. 

George H. Clark (1809—1881), belonging 
to this Middle period, w^as a writer of the 
'' Knickerbocker " and the author of a volume of 
poems called " Undertow." 

With the historical writers of the Later 
period, should be mentioned James Hammond 
Trumbull (1821— 1897), who, with conscientious 
scholarship and by means of independent in- 
vestigation, did much to elucidate many epi- 
sodes of New England historA^ notably in his 
editorship of the Colonial Records of Connecti- 
cut, a "Letter from Thomas Hooker," and his 
book, " Blue Laws True and False." 

John Fiske, the brilliant historian and 
essaA^st, though now distinctively of Massa- 
chusetts, was born in Hartford, and is one of 
those who was admitted to the bar, though he 
never practiced, while Henry C. Robinson, in a 
crowded legal career, has found time, not onh^ 
for numerous addresses on other than profes- 
sional lines, but to make contributions to the 
constitutional historv of the State. 



146 Hartford in History. 

Hartford has claimed and enjo^^ed the dis- 
tinction of pulpits filled by men of exceptional 
power, men esteemed not only as pastors and 
bishops, but of mark in literature and citizen- 
ship. It were a pity had it been otherwise in a 
city founded by Thomas Hooker. Two years 
later than Catherine Beecher, with whose name 
we began the Middle period, was born a man 
whose influence remains to-day a powerful fac- 
tor in the city which he made his home, and an 
influence felt far beyond the limits of Hartford 
theology and Hartford letters. A native of New 
Preston, but living in this city from 1833 until 
his death, Horace Bushnell (1802—1876) left 
his stamp upon the progressive tendencies of his 
time in every department to which he gave his 
attention, and made his name representative of 
much that passes current as distinctiveh^ of New 
England's best, in liberal, imaginative and en- 
kindled religious thought. That his stud3^ w^alls 
did not shut out the interests of practical and 
farseeing good citizenship, is witnessed b^^ the 
park that bears his name, rescued from the 
degradation of ugliness and disorder to be a 
center of beauty and refreshment. 

Another clergyman w^hose position in liter- 
ature is due tootherthan strictly clerical labors. 



Hartford in Literature. 147 

was Robert Turnbull (1809—1877). Born in 
Scotland, but a Hartford pastor for many years, 
a man of wide information, trained perceptions 
and a fine culture, he wrote not only for period- 
icals, but was the author of a number of books, 
among which are '^The Genius of Scotland'* 
and "The Genius of Italy." 

Nathaniel J. Burton (1824—1887), the suc- 
cessor of Dr. Bushnell, wrote a series of Yale 
lectures, which, with other addresses, have 
made a volume abounding in the wonderful 
felicity of language, power of expression and 
divining imagination that made his pulpit utter- 
ances so notable. These endowments, together 
with those of a wonderful voice and an inspir- 
ing presence, rendered him a preacher whose 
oratorical gifts made a profound and lasting 
impression. Like him, Dr. Edwin Pond Parker 
and the Rev. Joseph Hopkins Twichell are known 
to a wider public than that of their congrega- 
tions and their city. Both eloquent preachers. 
Dr. Parker has written a history of '' The Second 
Church of Hartford" and added several fine 
hymns to our collections, and Mr. Twichell is 
the author of a ''Life of John Winthrop," and 
the editor of some of the Winthrop letters, being 
master of a picturesque and forcible style, nota- 



148 Hartford in History. 

bly happy in phrase and epithet, which is espe- 
cially eifective in dealing with episodes of our 
early history. 

Dr. George Leon Walker, a later comer, but 
not an alien, has made most valuable contribu- 
tions to literature, in the "Life of Thomas 
Hooker" — of whom he is the lineal, clerical suc- 
cessor — and the histor^^ of his church, and in the 
*' Religious Life of New England," a book of 
searching and eloquent analysis. The Rev. 
William DeLoss Love has added to the evi- 
dences of the historic research of our clergymen, 
his authoritative work on "Fast and Thanks- 
giving Days in New England," while Rev. Sam- 
uel J. Andrews has written a standard " Life of 
Christ." 

It is an interesting fact that so many 
bishops of the Episcopal Church, who, at one 
time or another, have held a cure in this city, 
have blended with their professional duties that 
taste for literature which has led to greater or 
less distinction in its pursuit. To the Early 
period belongs Bishop Doane, the father, (1799 
-1859), the author of "Softly now the Light 
of Da3%" a professor at Washington, now Trin- 
ity, College ; to the Later, his son, the present 
Bishop Doane, and the bishops George Burgess 



Hartford in Literature. 149 

(1809-1866) and Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1818 
—1896). All of these have printed verse, and the 
present esteemed incumbent of the Connecticut 
bishopric, the Rev. John Williams, has also con- 
tributed to general literature. 

Returning now to the beginning of the Mid- 
dle period and reviewing those who are literarA' 
men b^^ preference, we find among the poets the 
name of George Denison Prentice (1802—1870), 
though one perhaps more ^deh^ known as that 
of a v^it. He had a turn for graceful and unaf- 
fected verse, and wrote a life of Henrv Clay. He 
was succeeded as editor of the New England 
Weekly Review by John Greenleaf Whittier 
(1802-1892), who remained here two years, 
and who is too widely known to require more 
than this brief reference. 

More emphatically may Hartford call hers 
the first poet of her Later period, Henry Howard 
Brownell (1820-1872), whose verse attracted 
the attention of Farragut and w^on Oliver 
Wendell Holmes' eulogy. The companion of 
Farragut in the battle of Mobile Bay, he was 
also its laureate, and his lyrics are full of the 
thrill of action. 

The poems of Rose Terry Cooke (1827-1892) 
have met with a narrower recognition than her 



150 Hartford in History. 

New England stories, but not from lack of the 
truest poetic quality. Alany of them, among the 
most familiar of which are the *' Two Villages " 
and the "Trailing Arbutus," suffice to mark 
her gift as that of undeniable genius. Of living 
poets Hartford can claim Edmund Clarence 
Stedman, by right of birth, although that lead- 
ing critic, as well as poet, has made his home so 
long in another city that to it belongs the dis- 
tinction of his stirring verse and penetrating 
criticism; Frances Louisa Bushnell, whose verse, 
limited in quantity, is of the finest, most musical 
and most convincing quality ; Richard Burton, 
whose two volumes of poems have proved his 
possession of the power of melodious expression ; 
and Charles F. Johnson, whose book shows the 
versatility of his poetic, as his volume of essays 
proves that of his critical, faculty. 

The first name in the list of fiction writers 
must be the universalh^ recognized one of Har- 
riet Beecher vStowe (1812-1896). A woman of 
hereditar3^ and personal power, of remarkable 
gifts of literary expression, of tenacious moral 
purpose and inspired imagination, the author of 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," was not only a great 
writer of fiction, but also the conscious instru- 
ment of patriotic forces. So long a most impor- 



Hartford in Literature. 151 

tant part of the literary circle of Hartford, she 
must ever remain one of its most revered and 
striking figures. 

We have already- mentioned Mrs. Cooke's 
poems ; her stories of New England life continue 
to hold their place among the increasing num- 
ber of delineations within the same province, by 
their irresistible humor and keen observation 
which sees, below the surface, the drama of a 
restricted existence. 

Charles Dudley Warner, now the vSenior 
member of the Hartford circle, with the distinc- 
tion of novelist and essayist, is a prominent fig- 
ure in American letters. A resident of Hartford 
since 1860, he became editor of the " Courant " 
in 1867, and in 1870, wrote for its columns the 
series of papers afterwards published and widely 
known as " yiy Summer in a Garden." 

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain), 
whose fame as a humorist has extended beyond 
the knowledge of English speaking peoples, has 
made his home in Hartford for a number of years, 
and it is here that his " Innocents Abroad " was 
published and much of his literary work done, 
including "The Gilded Age," which was written 
in collaboration with Mr. Warner. 

Frederic B. Perkins is the author of a novel 



152 Hartford in History. 

and some short stories, as well as of other tech- 
nical publications. 

Annie Trumbull Slosson, the author of 
"Seven Dreamers," has found for herself a do- 
main, which, while lying within the region so 
extensiveh' cultivated of New England pecu- 
liarities, reveals a distinctive quality in its oddi- 
ties. Her characters have almost always a 
touch of mysticism that differentiates them 
from the more familiar types. 

Mary Abigail Dodge (Gail Hamilton), (1830 
—1896), was, in the fifties, a teacher in the High 
School, and is still remembered as an inspiring 
visitant. 

Among essayists and miscellaneous writers 
of the Later period, we have already spoken of 
Mr. Warner and Mr. Clemens. Here belongs 
Henry Glay Trumbull, long a resident of Hart- 
ford, who, in addition to what he has contribu- 
ted to the press, has published several volumes 
belonging rather to general literature than to 
the treatment of special subjects. The book of 
a brother, Gurdon Trumbull, belongs in the 
scientific rather than the literar^^ department, 
though written for the general reader. 

Frederic Law^ Olmsted, better known as a 
landscape gardener, devoted some time to the 



Hartford in Literature. 153 

making of books in the early part of his career, 
and should have mention among those writers 
whose birthplace and early home was in this 
cit3% although transferring their later activities 
to other scenes. Three of these books, which 
were those of observation and comment attend- 
ing a trip through the Southern States, while 
published some time before the Rebellion, were 
issued in London, under the title of ^ ' The Cotton 
Kingdom," in 1861. Written, not as a contri- 
bution to the literature of partisanship, but as 
a record of facts, this volume became an import- 
ant and valuable document in the controversies 
leading to the Civil War. 

In the composition of dramatic literature, 
William Gillette is conspicuous, his brilliant and 
successful pla^^s having met a wide appreciation 
in this and other countries. 

In a review of this length, there is no space 
to even mention many single volumes contribu- 
ted by Hartford writers to one department of 
letters or another, such as "Maximilian and 
Carlotta," by John M. Ta^dor, and the "Life 
of Oliver Cromwell," by Dr. George H. Clark, 
and there are, as well, many writers for the peri- 
odical press, of stories, essays and verse, to 
whom it is impossible to refer except in this 



154 Hartford in History. 

general way. Journalism in Hartford might 
well have a chapter of its o\vn, since none can 
do more than the editor to bring about a com- 
mon acceptance of a high literar\^ standard. 
From the days of the "Anarchiad" and the 
"Echo," of Barlow, Hopkins, Humphreys and 
Trumbull, the succession has been continued 
through Brainerd, Prentice, Whittier and 
Warner. Some of these men were in the cit^^ for 
only a short time, but each one contributed his 
share to the maintenance of this high standard 
and of the exacting expectations of a critical 
community'. There is among the leading repre- 
sentatives of Hartford press of to-da3' a full 
recognition of these responsibilities, making it 
still conspicuous for the literary character of 
much of its production. Mr. Alfred E. Burr, one 
of the leading and one of the oldest editors of 
the State of Connecticut, has been the owner 
and editor of the Hartford " Times " since 1841, 
and has made it a paper of pronounced individ- 
uality and able and fearless political expression, 
in the accomplishment of which he has been 
effectually aided by his brother and other mem- 
bers of the staff. 

The "Courant," a newspaper having the 
distinction of uninterrupted publication since 



Hartford in Literature. 155 

1764, has been for some 3^ears under the editorial 
management of Mr. Charles Hopkins Clark. The 
ability of his editorship and the A^ersatility and 
brilliancy of his pen have been widely recognized 
and acknowledged. His associate, Mr. Charles H. 
Adams, is not only a journalist who commands 
an incisive and powerful style, but is a v^riter of 
verse notable for its imaginative grace. 

The faculty of Trinity College and that of 
the Theological Seminary have afforded, and 
continue to afford, men of ability, which is dis- 
played in their written treatment of subjects 
belonging to their various departments. All 
these elements confirm and attend the inclina- 
tion towards literary expression and apprecia- 
tion, now as ever, such potent factors in the 
atmosphere of this New England city. 



The Public Buildings of Hartford. 



T 



By Caroline M. Hewins. 

HE PUBLIC BUILDINGS of Hartford 
belong — 

I. To the Nation. 

II. To the State of Connecticut. 

III. To the County of Hartford. 

IV. To the City of Hartford. 
V. To Corporations. 

I. The Federal Building, erected by the 
United States Government, is in City Hall 
Square. On the first floor is the Post Office, one 
of the few in this countr^^ which more than pays 
its own expenses. It is a busy place, for mails 
are coming in and going out all day and nearly 
all night in the wagons that are loaded and un- 
loaded at the back entrance. On the second 
floor are rooms for government officials — the 
United States District Attorney, the Clerk of the 
United States Court, the United States Commis- 
sioner, the Judge of the United States Court, and 
the Collector of the United States Internal Reve- 
nue. On the third floor are a United States Court 

156 



The Public Buildings of Hartford. 157 

Room, and rooms for the grand and petit jury 
and the Custom House officials. Not many 
years ago, if a firm in Hartford imported goods 
from other countries, they were not allowed to 
come to this cit3' until they were ''cleared" — 
that is, until the duties on them were paid at 
the New York Custom House. Now they are 
sent direct to the care of the Hartford Custom 
House, and kept in "bonded warehouses," near 
the river, until the^^ are paid for ; or, if the^^ are 
books for public libraries, or other articles which 
are allowed to come in free of duty, until the 
importer declares that they are for public and 
not private use. 

II. The Capitol, of which we read in an- 
other chapter, belongs to the State. The State 
Arsenal, the row of buildings on two sides of a 
square at the corner of Main and Pavilion 
street, w4th its cannon and balls in the yard, is 
used as a storehouse for arms and military 
clothing and supplies, and for fourteen 3^ears 
after the Civil War was a place of safety for the 
Connecticut battle flags, until they -were carried 
in procession to the Capitol, in 1879. 

III. The Hartford County Court House 
Building, the large red-brick edifice overgrown 
with iv3^ at the corner of Trumbull and Allyn 



158 Hartford in History. 

street, is used by the County Commissioners, 
theSheriff of the County and the Superior Court. 
The County Jail is in Seyms street. 

IV. In October, 1806, a young girl took 
her first journey from Norwich to Hartford. It 
is onl\' fort\' miles, a two-hours' trip now by 
rail ; then it lasted all day by stage. She wrote 
in her journal, " The State House is a most ele- 
gant building of brick, with a loftj- portico, 
commanding from its second story a grand 
prospect of the town, with its numerous abodes, 
its fertile back country, and the river with its 
shipping. The pavement, in diamond-shaped 
pieces of w^hite and chocolate-colored marble, is 
fine, and the Council-chamber so large that we 
were pigmies in it. There are the seats for the 
Governor and Council, but what most riveted 
my attention w^as a portrait of Washington, 
rather larger than life, in a splendid frame, sur- 
rounded with curtains and festoons of crin\son 
satin."* It was in this building, on the Dark 
Day of 1780, when the other members of the 
Legislature thought that the Day of Judgment 
had come, that Abraham Davenport said: *'I 
am against an adjournment. The Day of Judg- 
ment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is 

*Sigourney, Letters of Life. 



The Public Buildings of Hartford. 159 

not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it 
is, I wish to be found doing my duty. I ^vish, 
therefore, that candles may be brought."* Or 
as Whittier has told it in verse : 

" This may well be 
The Day of Judgment which the world aw^aits ; 
But be it so, or not, I only know. 
My present duty, and my Lord's command 
To occup3^ till he come. So at the post 
Where he hath set me in his providence 
I choose, for one, to meet him face to face, — 
No faithless servant frightened from my task, 
But ready when the Lord of the harvest calls ; 
And, therefore, with all reverence, I would say 
Let God do his work, we will see to ours. 
Bring in the candles." f 

The old State House, now City Hall, belongs 
to the City of Hartford, and in it are the 
Mayor's office, and the office of the Cit3^ Treas- 
urer, City Auditor, City Marshal, Water Board, 
City Surve^^or, Health Commissioners, Building 
Inspector, Sealer of Weights and Measures, and 
Street Commissioners. The Board of Aldermen 
meets in the old Senate Chamber, and the Com- 
mon Council in the old Representatives' Hall. 

The High School, in Hopkins street, was 
built in 1882—3, to take the place of a school- 

*D wight, Travels, v. 3, p. 498. New Haven, 1822. 
t Whittier, Abraham Davenport. 



160 Hartford in History. 

house destroyed by fire one cold, windy night, 
and was supposed to be large enough for the 
needs of the school for a long time to come. 
Within the last few years, however, the number 
of pupils has increased so rapidly that a large ad- 
dition has been erected, including a gymnasium 
and manual-training department. The classical 
department of the school ^was once the Hopkins 
Grammar School, and was founded in 1638. 

Copies of all wills and deeds of land in the 
City of Hartford are kept in the Halls of Record 
at the corner of Pearl and Trumbull street, 
where voters must be registered and prove them- 
selves able to read. The offices of the Town and 
City Clerk, City Collector, Registrars of Voters, 
Judge of Probate, Board of Relief, Board of Select- 
men and Board of Assessors are in this building. 

Y. The young girl who made the record in 
her journal about the old State House was 
Lydia Huntley, afterwards Mrs. Sigourney, 
who wrote many graceful verses, and lived in the 
large white house with pillars that stands on 
the west side of the railroad overlooking Bushnell 
Park. This house, sixty years ago, was far out 
of town. President Barnard, of Columbia Col- 
lege, spoke of it as Mrs. Sigourney 's ''elegant 
suburban residence," when he spent a summer 



The Public Buildings of Hartford. 161 

there in 1832 while he was a teacher in the 
large building a little farther up the hill, now 
called the American School for the Deaf. When 
Miss Huntley taught a school for girls, she had 
a little deaf-mute pupil, Alice Cogswell, who 
had lost her hearing before she was four Axars 
old. One day when Alice was plajdng in the 
garden of her father's house in Prospect street, 
where the building of the Hartford Medical So- 
ciet\^ now stands, a 3^oung student, Thomas 
Hopkins Gallaudet, taught her how to spell the 
word hat with her fingers. She afterwards 
learned other words and sentences both from 
him and Miss Huntley, until her father, encour- 
aged by her progress, began to urge that a school 
for deaf-mute children might be established in 
Hartford, in order that she need not be sent to 
an institution in London or Edinburgh. Mr. 
Gallaudet, after a year spent in studying and 
visiting schools for the deaf in England, Scot- 
land and France, came back to Hartford in 
1817 and opened the school, which was moved 
to its present site in 1821, and has had many 
thousand pupils from all over New England, 
who have been taught to lead useful lives. 

In the foreground of the Gallaudet Memorial 
Window in the Center Church is a figure of 



162 Hartford in History. 

Christ healing the bHnd, deaf and dumb boy, 
and in the background are the old house and 
garden in Prospect street, a cherry tree, a roAV 
of holh^hocks, and the Bolton hills in the dis- 
tance, like the scenes of every-day life in which 
the old Italian masters used to paint their Holy 
Families, saints and angels. 

It was not until the School for the Deaf had 
been established for many years, that the need 
w^as felt in Hartford of a school for blind children 
too young, or young men and women who had 
lost their sight when too old to go to the Perkins 
Institution in Boston. The Kindergarten for 
the Blind is in Asylum avenue beyond Wood- 
land street, and the Institution for the Blind, 
where mattress-making, typewriting and other 
occupations are taught, is in Wethersfield ave- 
nue, near the Wethersfield line. Through the 
training received in them man}^ pupils, who, if 
kept at home would lose their minds from lack 
of employment, are able to support themselves 
and find happiness in work. 

Miss Huntley's first visit to Hartford was 
in an old house that stood in a large garden on 
the corner of Main and Athen^um street. This 
house had belonged to Jeremiah Wadsworth, 
who was Commissary-general in the Revolu- 



7^he Public Buildings of Hartford. 163 

tion, and is said to have been the place where 
Washington heard of Arnold's treason. It is 
certain that he and Rochambeau met there to 
discuss plans for the campaign of Yorktown. 
Daniel Wadsworth, the son of Jeremiah, lived 
the latter part of his life in the house on the 
south-west corner of Prospect and Athenreum 
street, and about 1840 gave the land where his 
father's house stood for the Wadsworth Athe- 
naeum, built with money contributed by the 
citizens of Hartford. At first, the middle of the 
building contained an art gallery, the north 
wing the library of the Young Men's Institute, 
from which books might be taken for three dol- 
lars a year, and the south wing the library and 
collections of the Connecticut Historical Societ3^ 
About 1860, after the death of David Watkinson, 
who left about $100,000 to found a library of 
reference, an addition was built on the south- 
east. Still, Hartford had no free circulating 
library or free art gallerj^, like many other cities, 
until 1892, when $250,000 was given by a few 
generous friends of education on condition 
that $150,000 should be contributed by others 
in large or small sums. Public-spirited women, 
AA^orkmen in the factories, school children and 
old residents of Hartford who had moved away, 



164 Hartford in History. 

gave whatever the^^ could, from a few cents to 
thousands of dollars, and when the daily papers 
announced that more than $400,000 had iDeen 
secured, there was general rejoicing. 

Let us go into the Wads worth Athenaeum, 
first stopping to look at the tablet placed by the 
Sons of the American Revolution on the Washing- 
ton Elm in front, and a statue of Nathan Hale, 
by E. S. Woods, a Hartford sculptor, on the lawn . 
The Athenaeum is built of a ^^ellowish granite 
which takes a beautiful color in the sunlight, 
and came from a quarry in Eastbur^^ that was 
exhausted just before the building was finished. 
For this reason the portico is of wood. The 
style of the Athen^um is known as Perpendicu- 
lar, like that of many buildings in England four 
or five hundred years old. On the right of the 
entrance-hall is a room belonging to the Con- 
necticut Historical Society, where there is an 
exhibition of birds, eggs, stuffed mammals and 
Indian relics, to collecting which Dr. William 
Wood of East Windsor Hill devoted man^^ years 
of his life. On the second floor in the front part 
of the building are the studio of the Hartford 
Art SocietA^, where lessons in drawing and 
painting are given, an Art Galler^^ and the hall 
of the Connecticut Historical Societv. In the 



The Public Buildings of Hartford. 165 

Art Gallen^ is what is sometimes called the 
finest portrait in the United States, a large, 
full-length likeness by Sir Thomas Lawrence, of 
Benjamin West, the little Quaker boA^, who, the 
school reading-books used to sa^^, pulled hairs 
out of his cat's tail to make a paint-brush. In 
later years he became so famous an artist that he 
was chosen President of the Ro^^al Academ3^ in 
London. Another interesting portrait is of 
Peter Livingston, of New York, by Sir Henrj- 
Raeburn, a great Scotch artist, w^ho painted Sir 
Walter Scott and other famous men. '^Autumn 
Gold" is by George Inness, one of the great 
American painters, and '' The Plain of Barbizon," 
a beautiful twilight scene b^^ Davis, who has 
lived many 3^ears in France. Those of you who 
like historical pictures will enjo3^ the live scenes 
from the Revolution, by Trumbull, one of our 
earliest Connecticut artists, and "The Battle of 
Mobile Baj'," a scene on the flag-ship Hartford, 
by Over and, an English painter. 

The hall of the Connecticut Historical Society 
is full of interesting relics, a few of w^hich are the 
Mayflower chest, the shirt that Colonel Ledyard 
wore when he was killed in the Fort Griswold 
massacre, the clothes in which Jeremiah Wads- 
worth was presented to Louis XVI. and Marie 



166 Hartford in History. 

Antoinette, and a letter from Israel Putnam, 
who, however well he could fight, could not 
spell, for he sends his ''beast Respeacts " and 
speaks of a *'tabel," a "par of shoos," "lym- 
juice" and a "batel." There are high-heeled 
shoes and old embroidery, Eg^^ptian gods and 
Indian arrow-heads, General Putnam's tavern 
sign, Revolutionar3^ powder-horns, and por- 
traits of men of the last century in wigs and 
lace ruffles. A door at one end of the hall leads 
into the library of the Connecticut Histori- 
cal Society, where there are books on town 
history and famih^ genealogy, besides a collec- 
tion of Bibles and large old books made b^^ Dr. 
Robbins, the first librarian, ^vhose portrait is at 
the east end of the room. We can go from this 
library or from the Art Galler^^ through a hall, 
to the Watkinson Librar^^ a large, high room 
finished in oak, and full of books that the more 
you study and the older you grow the more 
interesting you will find. There are books in 
this library which are not in the great libraries 
in Boston and New York, and students often 
come from other cities to consult them. 

The staircase that goes do\vn from the door 
of the Watkinson Library leads to a hall opening 
into Athenaeum street, on the north side of the 



The Public Buildings of Hartford. 167 

building. Near the entrance on one side is the 
door of the large free reading room of the Hart- 
ford Public Library, open from eight in the 
morning till ten in the evening ever\" week-day, 
and from one till half-past seven on Sundays. 
In the hall, reading-room and a smaller hall at 
the back, is the Brooks collection of arms, war 
and Indian relics. The Hartford Public Library 
is opposite the reading-room, and is free to 
everyone old enough to write, who can bring a 
friend whose name is in the Directory, or, if a 
child, his or her father or mother, to sign a card 
promising good care of books or payment for 
them if lost or injured. There is a corner for 
bo3^s and girls, and a special book-list for them. 
A reference-room leading from the library has 
books to help in their school-work, and th^y 
have onlj^ to ask, to be taught how to use the 
card-catalogue and books of reference. The 
city appropriates a yearly sum for the Library, 
and it also has an income from gifts and be- 
quests. It helps the schools in ever3^ possible 
way, and is part of the educational s^^stem of 
Hartford. 

Trinity College, on a hill south-west of the 
city, used to stand on the site of the Capitol 
and was called Washington College when first 



168 Hartford in History. 

founded. It has interesting collections of min- 
erals, fossils and casts from skeletons of prehis- 
toric animals, open every week-da3\ 

The Hartford Theological Seminary, in 
Broad street, near Farmington avenue, has a 
museum of curiosities from India, Japan, the 
South Sea Islands and remote parts of our own 
country, including small images in the costume 
of Hindu men and women. It is also open every 
week-day. 

The Retreat for the Insane, at the corner of 
Washington street and Retreat avenue, has 
been in existence for sevent^'-five years. At the 
time it was opened it was the custom to treat 
insane patients harshly, to chain them or keep 
them in cages, and the Retreat was one of the 
few hospitals in this country where milder 
methods were practiced. The grounds are open 
to visitors every week-da\^ 

The Hartford Hospital, at the corner of Jef- 
ferson and South Hudson street, has a fund 
from the State, but most of its support comes 
from gifts and bequests. A training-school for 
nurses is connected with it, and its usefulness 
increases everj^ year. Across Jefferson street is 
the Old People's Home, \vhere men and women 
more than sixtv vears of ag^e are allowed to 



I 



The Public Buildings of Hartford. 169 

live the rest of their Hves on pa^^ment of a thou- 
sand dollars. 

The Young Men's Christian Association, at 
the corner of Pearl and Ford street, has classes 
in manual-training, drawing and High School 
studies for young men, and one of the best gym- 
nasiums in the country. 

The Good Will Club, in the building in Pratt 
street that was once the Hartford Female Semi- 
nary, of which Catherine Beecher, Mrs. Stowe's 
sister, was the principal, is a place where hun- 
dreds of boys spend pleasant evenings. The 
Union for Home Work, in Market street, and 
the City Mission, in Pearl street, are engaged in 
helping and teaching men, women and children 
to help themselves. 



Manufactures in Hartford. 



By P. Henry Woodward. 

DURING the colonial period the business of 
Hartford was mostly confined to agricul- 
ture and trade. Located at the head of 
navigation for ocean sailing vessels, the town 
was a leading center of distribution for the 
region stretching northward toward the sources 
of the Connecticut. 

Earh^ attempts to introduce manufactures 
gave little promise of the development that 
began about the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. Some failed, some dried up and some 
moved away to become firmly rooted in other 
soil. 

In 1788 the first woolen mill in the countrj^ 
was built on Little River, near the foot of Mul- 
berry street. General Washington delivered his 
first inaugural in a suit made from its cloth. 
But the people were too poor to buy the product 
at remunerative prices. After a struggle of six 
years the company was dissolved. 

Among the manufactures that flourished 
more or less for sixt^^ A^ears after the Revolution 

170 



Manufactures in Hartford. 171 

may be mentioned silver and Britannia ware, 
bells, cordage, pottery, watches, tanning, coop- 
erage, ship-building, friction matches, engrav- 
ing, etc. 

In manufactures Hartford attained its first 
notable success in the production of books. The 
city took the lead in selling by subscription, and 
for a long period held the first place in the trade. 
The Civil war gave a great impetus to the busi- 
ness. Sales of one hundred and fifty or two 
hundred thousand copies of single works were 
not uncommon. Canvassers penetrated all our 
outlying settlements, and by their efibrts helped 
to create an appetite which only books can sat- 
isfy. At one time fifty thousand agents were 
employed by local publishers. 

In the production of cotton and woolen 
goods, paper and specialties, Hartford began 
early to utilize the water-power of other towns, 
supplying both capital and direction. Before 
entering on an industrial career distinctively her 
own, she was compelled to wait for the advent 
of the steam engine. Most of her large enter- 
prises trace their lineage to the foundry and 
machine shop. 

In 1820, Alpheus and Truman Hanks came 
to Hartford, and, starting with a small foundry, 



172 Hartford in History. 

built Up a business that in the hands of their 
successors became famous forty years later. 
They made the first successful cast-iron plow in 
the United States. At the outset the^^ ran by 
horse-power, but in 1828 set up a fine steam 
engine made by Daniel Copeland, who had a 
machine shop on the opposite side of Commerce 
street. After various changes the firm Avas in- 
corporated in 1853 as The Woodruff and Beach 
Iron Works, with a capital of $225,000. The 
company was especially noted for the excellence 
of its engines and boilers. During the war it 
furnished marine engines for the "Pequot," the 
"Nipsic," the "Mohican," the "Kearsarge" 
which sank the cruiser Alabama, and for other 
naval vessels. 

In 1834, Levi Lincoln, with his son, George 
S. Lincoln, started on Arch street a small ma- 
chine repair shop. Previously the father had 
been manager of The New England Card Com- 
pany, a local concern that at one time employed 
nine hundred women and children, scattered 
over a wide area, in setting the wire teeth of 
the cards used in the manufacture of woolen 
and cotton goods and for other purposes. While 
so engaged he perfected a machine for doing the 
work ^which ruined the domestic industrv. He 



Manufactures of Hartford. 173 

invented the hook and e3^e machine, which 
brought wealth to others, but not to himself, 
and the molasses gate still in use in almost the 
original form. Since 1885 the business, now 
grown to large proportions, has been owned 
and managed by Charles S. Lincoln and his 
sons Charles P. and Theodore M. 

The advent of Colonel Samuel Colt marked 
a turning point in the industrial growth of the 
city. The revolver of his invention had been 
used effectively b^^ Texans in their struggle for 
independence and b^^ our troops against the ter- 
rible Seminoles in the swamp fights of Florida, 
but not until the Mexican war were its merits 
adequately acknow^ledged by the military boards 
of the United States army. After heroic strug- 
gles his hour of triumph had come. Thencefor- 
ward success flowed in with a rush till then un- 
equaled in the histor3^ of American manufac- 
tures. In 1852, Colonel Colt bought a large tract 
on the Connecticut River, within the city limits, 
which he enclosed with a d^^ke that affords both 
protection against the highest freshets and a 
spacious driveway. The armor3^, begun in 
1854, was ready for occupancj^ in 1855. Quick 
to discover and generous in rewarding merit, 
Colonel Colt gathered around himabody of men 



174 Hartford in History. 

remarkable alike for skill and fidelity. It was 
the constant aim of the establishment to reach 
the best attainable results b^- the most efllicient 
means. The armory became a training school 
in applied mechanics where absolute excellence, 
even if beyond human reach, was still the onh- 
standard. Young men caught the enthusiasm 
for mechanical perfection, and later in works 
under their own control inspired others to 
pursue like ideals. Here under such teachers as 
E. K. Root, Samuel H. Bachelor and Horace 
Lord were educated, in part, Francis A. Pratt, 
Amos Whitney, George A. Fairfield, Charles E. 
Billings and others, leaders trained to tolerate 
no remediable imperfection. It is this enthusi- 
asm for excellence that has won for Hartford its 
high place in manufactures. 

After the Alexican war, orders for the pistol 
came in swelling streams, not only from power- 
ful empires, but from loneh- frontiers and from 
remote outposts of civilization. While project- 
ing colossal schemes Colonel Colt died suddenly, 
January 10, 1862. His work survives less in 
the armory, which arose like magic, than in the 
aspiration for excellence that has since been the 
essential feature of our industrial creed. 

In January, 1836, Newton Case and E. D. 



Manufactures in Hartford. 175 

Tiffany founded the present Case, Lockwood & 
Brainard Co. The memorable panic of 1837 
made severe the earh' struggle for existence. 
Encouraged by signs of reviving trade, the firm, 
three 3^ears later, bought the stereot\^pe plates 
of the Cottage Bible, a commentar\^ in two 
royal octavo volumes, of which the3^ sold over 
two hundred thousand copies. Here, too, for 
the first fifteen years, Webster's Unabridged 
Dictionary was printed and bound, as well as 
school books in large quantities. James Lock- 
wood entered the partnership in 1853, and 
Leverett Brainard in 1858. The association of 
Messrs. Case, Lockwood & Brainard remained 
unbroken till the death of Mr. Lockwood, in 
1888. Mr. Case followed in 1890, in his eight^^- 
fourth year. He was long a trustee and devoted 
friend of the Hartford Theological Seminary, to 
which he made large bequests. He had already 
provided the funds for building the Case Memo- 
rial Librar3^ and for adding thousands of vol- 
umes to its collections. In 1874, the business was 
incorporated under a special charter from the 
State. Its capital is $400,000. The president, 
Mr. Brainard, was elected mayor of Hartford in 
1894. This is one of the largest and best equipped 
printing establishments in New England. 



176 Hartford in History. 

In 1845 Plim^ Jewell, Sr., came from New^ 
Hampshire to Hartford and ran a tan^-ard on 
land now embraced in Bushnell Park. Three 
years later he began making leather belts. He 
and four sons successiYely taken into the part- 
nership did much to substitute this means for 
the conveyance of power in place of the nois}^ 
costh^ and cumbersome system of gearing before 
prevalent. Thefactor^^, bought in 1863, has since 
been enlarged from time to time directh' and by 
the addition of new buildings. Under a special 
charter The Jew^ell Belting Company was organ- 
ized in 1883, as successor to the partnership of 
P. Jewell & Sons, with a capital of $1,000,000, 
owned by the family and a few employees. The 
concern has tanneries in the oak-growing re- 
gions of Georgia and Tennessee, whence its sup- 
plies of leather are drawn, and also has a branch 
factor\Mn Detroit. Even before thew^ar the firm 
was making belts from thirty-six to forty inches 
in width, though Avhen the fact was told in 
England, with a discount of one-third from the 
reality, the statement was received incredu- 
loush^ Since then the size has been doubled. 
A late product, 118 feet long and weighing 
3,208 pounds, transmits tw^o thousand horse 
powder. 



Manufactures in Hartford. 177 

In the summer of 1860 Francis A. Pratt and 
Amos Whitney opened a small machine shop, 
and did so well that two years later, on admit- 
ting to the partnership Monroe Stannard, each 
of the three contributed $1,200. Those were 
halcyon da3^s, for in 1865, with their own re- 
sources and credit, the^^ erected a building of 
four stories, containing forty thousand square 
feet of floor space. The plant no^w covers about 
five and a half acres. 

Beginning with the manufacture of machine 
tools, gun tools and tools for the makers of 
sewing machines, the concern has broadened its 
lines till the mere catalogue of its products fills 
hundreds of pages. Here the resources of science, 
art and skill have been devoted to the task of 
embodying the ideal in the real. Its imprint to 
the informed mind signifies simplicity, strength, 
precision, elegance, durabilit^^ and complete 
adaptation of means to ends. 

During four years, beginning in 1862, net 
assets grew from $3,600 to $75,000. The Pratt 
& Whitney' Compan3' was incorporated in 1869, 
with a capital of $350,000, increased to $400,- 
000 in 1873, and to $500,000 in 1875, mostly 
from profits. 

In this shop as the fruit of years of effort 



178 Hartford in History. 

was elaborated the "comparator," a machine 
for giving correct measurements within a limit 
of one-fifty-thousandth of an inch. The accu- 
rac}' thus attained introduced a new era in in- 
dustrial uniformity, precision and economies. 
The company has found a large market in for- 
eign countries. 

In 1878, Colonel Albert A. Pope, of Boston, 
contracted with The Weed Sewing Machine 
Company to make a small lot of bicycles. He 
came at an opportune moment, for a little later 
the sewing machine business was reduced to 
great straits b\' excessive competition and 
vicious methods of conducting sales. The 
bicycle soon ceased to be regarded as a sort of 
toy for big bo3^s and men. When its utihties 
were recognized, the inventive and mechanical 
talent of the factory was devoted to its im- 
provement. The demand broadened so rapidly 
that the need of a larger plant became impera- 
tive. Accordingly, in 1890, Colonel Pope and a 
few associates bought the stock of the Weed and 
organized The Pope Manufacturing Company 
on a capital of $1,000,000, increased in 1893 to 
$2,000,000. Having purchased The Hartford 
Rubber Works, the company has since increased 
its floorage over sevenfold, making here tires 



Manufactures in Hartford. 179 

for its own use and for the general trade. It has 
built a separa;te factory capable of turning out 
a million feet of nickel-steel, seamless tubing per 
month. This plant has been much admired for 
its completeness. Through The Hartford Cycle 
Company, a machine equally durable, but less 
finished, is sold at three-fourths the price of the 
Columbias. In January, 1898, the floor space 
of the entire plant reached 780,670 square feet, 
the equivalent of 17.91 acres. The number of 
hands varies with the seasons, but the maximum 
exceeds three thousand. 

Drop forgings, it is said, v^ere introduced 
into this countr^^b}^ Colonel Samuel Colt, but at 
first the devices were crude and the results un- 
satisfactory. Largeh^ through the improve- 
ments and inventions of Charles E. Billings, 
president of The Billings & Spencer Company, 
the industry has been raised from a lowly posi- 
tion to its present dignit3^ By this process bars 
of iron, steel or copper can be hammered into 
required forms with quickness and precision. In 
two dies the form of the article to be forged 
is cut, one-half in each. The base is then keyed 
to the anvil and its counterpart to the hammer 
of the drop. Where the form to be produced is 
complicated, red hot bars are passed through 



180 Hartford in History. 

a series of dies. Held in place b^- strong frames, 
hammers weighing from 400 to over 2,000 
pounds fall from one to six feet. A few rapid 
blows complete the process. The rough forg- 
ings are then passed on to other departments 
of the shop to be finished, polished and assem- 
bled into tools. The works have been repeatedly 
enlarged. The compan^^ not onh- makes its 
own hammers and dies, but equipments for 
other shops. 

The Hartford Machine Screw Company was 
organized in 1876. On automatic machines orig- 
inally contrived b3^ Christopher M. Spencer, but 
since greath^ changed and improved by new in- 
ventions, the company turns out screws for 
machine work from the largest sizes to others 
so minute that to the unaided eye they resemble 
grains of dust. The efficiency of the SA^stem in- 
creases with the diminution of the size. Finan- 
cially this is one of the strongest industries in 
the United States. 

The Pratt & Cad3^ Compan^^ from asbestos 
make valves for controlling steam and for other 
purposes. The enterprise began humbh'-in 1878, 
was incorporated in 1882, and now has a large 
plant and a capital of $400,000. The Johns- 
Pratt Company- was formed in 1886, to make 



Manufactures in Hartford. 181 

an asbestos compound for packing and for elec- 
trical insulation. 

Organized in 1873, The Plimpton Manufac- 
turing Companj^ built its factory on Pearl street 
in 1886. The works have a capacity for turn- 
ing out over three millions of envelopes per day, 
and are also fully equipped for job printing and 
bookbinding. From paper so made as to avoid 
waste, envelopes are cut, hundreds at a time, 
with each fall of the knife. The sheets, placed in 
bulk upon the table of the machine, are picked 
up singly by tireless fingers, gummed, folded, im- 
pressed with the printed request to return to 
the writer, and (at the government works 
with the postage stamp also) counted in 
packages of twenty-five each, and delivered at 
the outlet ready for boxing. Most of the im- 
provements Avhich render the machines so pre- 
cise and effective have been made on the premises 
and are protected by patents. Stamped envel- 
opes for the United States have been made here 
in a separate building under the same general 
management since 1874. 

The Caligraph having started in Nev^ York 
City in 1880, and moved to Corry, Penn., two 
years later under the stimulus of a liberal dona- 
tive, came to Hartford in the spring of 1885, in 



182 Hartford in History. 

a state of collapse. The change wrought won- 
ders. By our skillful workmen the machine was 
radically improved. Under good management 
the debts were paid, the patent and royalty ac- 
counts extinguished, and the weary stockhold- 
ers were astonished to receive yearly dividends 
of forty, fift\' and even a higher rate per cent. 
As the majority of these lived elsewhere, they 
cared little for the bridge that had carried them 
safeh^ over the abyss, and hence accepted a 
tempting offer for the property from a syndi- 
cate. Its rescue from death, however, we may 
still claim as a proof of local skill. John M. 
Fairfield, under whose management the cure 
took place, has organized another company on 
a solid capital of $60,000, that is turning out a 
typewriter, intended to meet exacting require- 
ments, at low prices. 

The Smyth machines for sewing books by 
thread and for making bookcases at a fraction 
of former cost, are marvels of ingenuit3\ About 
one-half of the product is sold abroad. 

The mattresses, metallic bedsteads and car 
seats made by The Hartford Woven Wire Mat- 
tress Company should be mentioned as among 
recent contributions to comfort and health. 

The Capewell Horse Nail Company, capital 



Alanufactures in Hartford. 183 

$400,000, by automatic machinery makes nails 
for shoeing horses. These are highly finished, 
ductile, and stiff enough to penetrate the hardest 
hoof The machines, the invention of George J. 
Cape well, are protected by over thirtj^ patents. 

The William Rogers Manufacturing Com- 
pany, the pioneer in applying the art of electro- 
plating to table-ware, has a large domestic and 
foreign trade. A later arrival. The Barbour Silver 
Company, has so prospered that it has already 
more than once materially enlarged its isictory. 

The oldest manufacturing concern in the 
city, and the oldest in its line in the United 
States, was founded by Normand Smith, in 
1794. It soon took a leading place in making 
saddler^' and harness goods, and for over a cen- 
tury has moved onward steadily and successfully, 
without deviation from its chosen field. 

Our allotted space is too small to speak of 
many enterprises that w^ell deserve mention. 
Their notable prosperity is due to high stand- 
ards, reinforced b^^ the presence of highly edu- 
cated talent and an abundance of skilled labor. 



Historic Places in Hartford. 



By Arthur L. Shipman. 

ANEW country- is generally entered b^^ its 
water waA^s, and when people settle it the^- 
first occupy a site where a river comes into 
the sea or where a stream enters a river. So 
when the Dutch first sailed up the Connecticut, 
or, as the\^ called it, the "Fresh River," and 
found the Little River entering it fi*om the west- 
ern hills, there they decided to settle and to 
build a fort. Ten years went by before the plan 
was carried out. In 1633 the flag of Holland 
was flying over a little house called "Good 
Hope,'' built on \vhat we know as "Dutch 
Point." 

It does not look to-day much as it looked 
then, for the river has moved gradually west- 
w^ard, and it is hard to imagine the pear-shaped 
peninsula of those earh^ days rising from be- 
tween the clear rivers, with the low green mead- 
ow^s above and below and the forest-covered 
hills stretching out behind. The Dutch were 
not destined to hold the river, even though the^- 
had secured a principal point of defense on its 



Historic Places in Hartford. 185 

banks, for John Holmes, of Ph^mouth, in the same 
year, passed by the fort and built a trading house 
at Windsor. Englishmen are not apt to 
abandon what they have a good chance of re- 
taining, and the people who followed John 
Holmes were of that stamp. The fort did not 
frighten them, and the Dutch were shut into a 
few acres of land about the fort, and, finally, in 
1653, even these were confiscated by the colony. 
But the *' Point" remains "Dutch," and how- 
ever hideous it is in appearance to-day, please 
remember it is the oldest historic spot in Hart- 
ford. 

During the two years following 1633 and 
John Holmes' settlement at Windsor, the Massa- 
chusetts Bay people came in scattered parties to 
Hartford and vicinity and settled. They were 
squatters, but those in Hartford had some sort 
of a town organization when Mr. Hooker's com- 
pany came in the summer of 1636. It ^\^ould be 
interesting if we could know exactly how Hart- 
ford looked to them when they completed their 
long journey' through the wilderness. I imagine 
that they forded the river above the bridge and 
camped near North Meadow Creek, and then 
some of the party may have walked up the hill 
with the original settlers and learned when they 



186 Hartford in History. 

reached the head of Morgan street that they 
were on Sentinel Hill. We know that the land 
was at least fifteen feet higher then than now, 
and that it was called Sentinel Hill because a 
sentrj^ watched there for marauding Indians. 
We could have looked with them down the 
slopes of the hill and have seen the little log 
huts clustered together, perhaps near the foot of 
Ferry street, which had rudely sheltered the 
colonists of the preceding years. Shortly after 
their coming, the proprietors secured from 
Sequassen, the Indian chief, a deed of the land 
between Wethersfield on the south and Windsor 
on the north, the west line being about six 
miles west of the river. Let us walk with them, 
down Sentinel Hill on the wa3^ to the Little 
River and stop at the plateau, which was the 
scene of the public life of the town for many 
years. It was first called "Ye Square," or 
" Meeting House Green," but is now known as 
Cit\^ Hall Square. We might have seen in the 
distance, perhaps, the beginnings of the stock- 
ade, or ' ' Palisado, ' ' on the north side of the Little 
River, where the northern abutment of the stone 
bridge stands. This was built to protect the 
crossing from Indians and from the Dutch at 
Good Hope. But we will not go farther than 



Historic Places in Hartford. 187 

the Square just now, . for there are some spots 
within its limits \vhich we wish to mark as 
memorable. We must leave the first party, 
however, but the Square is still here, although 
its limits are smaller than the first settlers de- 
signed. If we stand on Main street at the south 
side of the alley south of the Hartford Trust 
Company building, we shall be on the south- 
western corner of the square. The northern 
boundar3^ is a short distance south of Kinsley 
street. 

We must stop before the entrance to the 
marble block. No. 11 Central Row, for here 
stood the first meeting-house. I have followed 
tradition and Dr. Hawes' statement here, but it 
seems more probable that the first meeting- 
house was near Dr. Hooker's own house. We 
know that it was later given to him for a stable. 
It was as difficult to move a log house as to build 
another. Besides, a stable to be valuable to the 
pastor, ought to have been convenient. Dr. 
Hooker's house v\ras on the corner of School 
street (now Arch) and Meeting House Alley. 
You must know that a church was a very im- 
portant place in our ancestors' opinion ; and, be- 
sides, a church was not only used for religious 
services, but was the meeting place of the people 



188 Hartford in History. 

for all public purposes, and it was before or near 
this building that the freemen adopted the 
famous constitution of 1639, the world's first 
written constitution. When thej^ said " We the 
inhabitants and residents of Windsor, Hartford, 
and Wethersfield * * * do therefore associate 
and conjoin ourselves to be as one public state 
or commonwealth," the foundation principle of 
the United States of America was laid down. 
The handwriting is pretty hard to read, but the 
meaning of the language has grown clearer ever 
since. 

If we walk out to the eastern end of the 
post office lot, we shall stand near the site of 
the second meeting-house, built in 1649. In the 
second story of the church the General Assembh'- 
met, and it was here perhaps that they assem- 
bled when the Royal Governor Andros de- 
manded the surrender of the charter in 1687, 
and suddenly out went the lights and out ran 
Joseph Wadsworth with the precious charter 
under his arm. Joseph AVadsworth lived ''up 
neck ; " that is, on Windsor avenue. 

Perhaps the General Assembly were at 
Zachariah Sanford's tavern, where the Church 
of the Redeemer now stands, when the charter 
was secreted, w^e can not tell positivelj^ to-da3\ 



Historic Places in Hartford. 189 

If we had been about the Square in the fifty 
years following the settlement, we should have 
seen the soldiers gathering to take boat against 
the Pequots, under John Mason, who refused to 
leave Connecticut, even for a major-generalship 
in Cromwell's army. Poor Cromwell ! he had 
to do the best he could in New Haven, and took 
a man named Desborough in Mason's place. 
We might have seen Mr. Hooker, the pastor, 
and Mr. Stone, the teacher of the church, com- 
ing up Meeting House Alley with their flowing 
robes and steeple hats. Meeting House Alley 
met the Square at its south-eastern corner. 
The building of The Travelers Insurance Com- 
pany covers the ground now. In 1693 we 
should have seen the train-band lined up when 
Fletcher tried to read his proclamation, and 
heard Captain Wadsworth say, "I will make 
the sun shine through you if you interrupt the 
proceedings any further, sir." We should have 
seen the soldiers assembling to march against 
King Philip (1675); later, hurrying to the rescue 
of Deerfield (1704), and again mustered to sail 
to Louisburg (1745), and to march to Ticon- 
deroga (1775). 

The schoolhouse stood north and east of 
the church, and when the news of the repeal of 



190 Hartford in History. 

the Stamp Act came in 1766, the boys and 
young men rushed to get powder at the school- 
house to celebrate the event, and in the excite- 
ment exploded the powder, wrecking the build- 
ing and killing and injuring many of their 
number. 

Had we visited Hartford in and about 1780, 
^we should surely have put up at the Bunch of 
Grapes or Bull's Tavern. The building was a 
rambling structure (you can see a picture of it 
in the rooms of the Connecticut Historical So- 
ciety), and stood on Alain street, south of 
Asylum street. Quite a number of distinguished 
persons have spoken of its hospitable accom- 
modations, and Lafayette was given a dinner 
there in 1784. 

In September, 1780, Washington, Knox, 
Hamilton and Lafayette came up Main street 
Avith their escort, and the French officers who 
walked up State street, met in the Square, and 
subsequently planned the campaign which ended 
at Yorktown. One maybe very sure that it was 
a proud day for young Lafaj^ette ; proud as he 
must have been of Washington, his friend, and 
of his country, France, and carrying withal 
pardonable self-satisfaction in that the alliance 
was largeh' due to himself. 



Historic Places in Hartford. 191 

The first court house, built in 1719, gave 
place in 1796 to the present building, now called 
the City Hall. It is not a building to be ashamed 
of in its proportions and design, and there are 
very few things which happened within its walls 
of which we have reason to be ashamed. Its 
most memorable assembly was the Hartford 
Convention. The year 1814 was a time of in- 
tense excitement throughout New England. 
The majority of the people were ver^^ much 
opposed to the war of 1812, and delegates of 
the New England States met in the present 
chamber of the Board of Aldermen to consider 
the questions of the day. We hear flings at the 
Hartford Convention. Sometimes it takes more 
courage to stop than to go ahead, and let us be 
glad that in Hartford the delegates found that 
counsels of moderation were wiser than ram- 
pant Kentucky resolutions. 

The front of the building is the east side, 
and, although the open gallery has been since 
enclosed, one can imagine the former governors 
as they stood between the pillars and addressed 
the people in the triangular green below, where 
the post office now stands. 

Proceeding down Main street, w^e must 
stop at the First Church. It stands on part of 



192 Hartford in History. 

the old town burying lot, and behind the church 
is a remnant of the lot. Hats off, here ! we are 
where the mortal remains of the best men of 
the seventeenth century rest. Massachusetts 
Bay men are said to have been the choicest of 
old England. Here lie the choicest men of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay. They are our fathers— not alone 
ours, but of thousands over the land. The 
whole country has reason to rise up and call 
them blessed. 

Before we cross the street, look up at the 
south half of the City Hotel and recall that here 
met the first school for the deaf and dumb in 
America, and down the street, over Fenn's fur- 
niture store, Noah Webster wrote a large part 
of his dictionary'. 

When we cross to the east side of the street 
Wadsworth Elm and the site of the house of 
Jeremiah Wadsworth is before us. The Athe- 
nasum now stands there. Wadsworth was Dep- 
uty Commissary-general of the Continental 
Army, and later agent of the French army for the 
United States. The house welcomed within its 
hospitable walls every traveler of note from 
abroad, and many of the famous men of the 
Revolution — Washington, Hancock, Greene, La- 
fayette, Rochambeau, Chastellux — were its hon- 



Historic Places in Hartford. 193 

ored guests. Here the unconquerable Putnam 
was at last conquered by his fatal disease. 
Read the tablet on the elm, and then let us walk 
south toward the stone bridge. Look up at 
Daniels' dam ; it checks the water where one of 
Hartford's earliest mills stood. For two hun- 
dred and fifty 3^ears grain has there been turned 
into meal. We can not stop now to tell about 
the shops which used to stand on a former 
bridge, and the confiscation by the Continental 
Congress of the property where the Frank- 
lin market stands, for the Tor\nsm of the 
owner. We must turn at the Second (South) 
Church (Buckingham street formerh^ ran on 
both sides of it) and walk down Charter Oak 
street, which was Charter street until after the 
oak fell. Charter Oak Place cuts into the old 
Wyllys property, and just on the edge of the 
hill stood the famous tree. The tablet does not 
exactly mark the place, for in the center of the 
street, opposite the tablet, rose the center of the 
hollow trunk. Twent^^-one people could stand 
there under cover. 

Thus far we have followed the path of 
Joseph Wadsworth as he sped with the precious 
manuscript in 1687. If we turn toward the 
east we shall pass by Governor street. It used 



194 Hartford in History. 

to be Cole street, but so many governors lived 
on it that it received a more appropriate name. 
We shall come, if we foUo^w Charter Oak ave- 
nue, to a part of the dyke. That surely is a 
historic spot, v^hich shows the bold conception 
and perseverance of one of Hartford's greatest 
benefactors, Samuel Colt. He rescued for Hart- 
ford by his system of dykes two square miles of 
land, and healthwise made the whole city a 
much more desirable living place. 

Now we can see the location of the Dutch 
House of Hope, and imagine Adrian Block sail- 
ing up the river with his little high-decked boat, 
and think of John Holmes passing Iw in his 
sloop unmindful of its threatening cannon ; and 
if we turn and walk to the South Green we can 
try to pick out the tree where the sentinels used 
to perch and watch for the signaling flash of 
powder from Sentinel Hill. 

We might walk out to Rocky Hill, where 
criminals were executed, the gibbet being swung 
over the edge of the precipice. But let us turn 
toward Bushnell Park, and think what it was 
before the city took up Horace Bushnell's proj- 
ect. It was cut by a railroad ; the depot v^as 
at the foot of Mulberry street ; miserable build- 
ings stood on its undulating surface, now made 



Historic Places in Hartford. 195 

beautiful by trees, fountains and lawns. At the 
stepping stones our oldest mill, Matthew Allyn's, 
formerly stood, and Trinit^^ College, formerly 
Washington College, was built where the State 
Capitol rises. 

To tell of the interesting things in the Cap- 
itol itself would take a long chapter. You must 
see the charter in the library'-, the battle flags 
and the figurehead of Farragut's famous flag- 
ship, ''The Hartford." It seems unfortunate that 
it is re-gilded and polished anew. Do not forget to 
look at the statues and bas-reliefs over the east 
ern entrance, and learn the names and history 
of the men prominent in war and statesman- 
ship, to whose memory they were erected ; and 
when you walk across the park on your way 
back to City Hall Square, see the statue of 
Horace Wells, and read the tablet on the Corn- 
ing Building. The old building is gone, but it 
stood on the south-east corner of Asylum street, 
and the room was in the second story, second 
from the corner, that was the scene of the price- 
less discovery of anaesthesia. No man ever gave 
to humanit3^ a more blessed gift than Horace 
Wells. 

In leaving Bushnell Park, we remember that 
the park system of Hartford is being developed, 



196 Hartford in History. 

and let us go to Riverside Park, which ought to 
have been named Soldiers' Field. The lots 
granted to Hartford's soldiers for their service 
in the Pequot War lay west of Riverside Park— 
a tract of about twenty-eight acres running to 
the top of Meadow Hill, or Winthrop street, on 
the west, as far as Village street on the south, 
and east as far as the railroad track. The con- 
quest of the Pequots in 1637 was one of exter- 
mination, but it was absolutely necessar^^ for 
the securit^'^ of the young colony. 

There are many spots of historic interest 
which I have overlooked or lacked the space to 
mention. Visitors to Hartford will alwa^^s 
look for the homes of Mark Twain and Mrs. 
Stowe. Travelers will alwa^-s inquire where ' ' My 
Summer in a Garden" was written. They will 
like to see Mrs. Sigourney's house, and where 
our great insurance companies first started a 
business which has increased to such mighty 
proportions ; where the oldest living newspaper 
in the country w^as first given to eager, but dig- 
nified readers. You might find these and other 
things for yourselves, but, from what I have 
already written, ought we not to love and cher- 
ish Hartford and its historic spots ? 



The Influence of Hartford in Public 
Affairs. 



By Charles Hopkins Clark. 

THE influence of Hartford in public affairs has 
been felt in many directions. But there is 
no question as to what event in the his- 
tory of the town has had the most effect upon 
the world. In 1639 the people of Hartford, 
Wethersfleld and Windsor met here and adopted 
the "Fundamental Orders," which united their 
towns in one State. These orders were un- 
doubtedly inspired by the Rev. Thomas Hooker, 
and thej' declared that the supreme power of 
the common^vealth laj^ in those whom the peo- 
ple themselves might choose. The adoption of 
that constitution had more to do with human 
history than anything else that ever happened 
here. The Declaration of Independence reas- 
serted its principles ; and the rise of democracy, 
the growth of republics, and the progress of the 
people in the past two centuries can be traced 
in no small measure to that one act of the 
pious, wise and self-respecting men who settled 
this town and established the State of Con- 



198 Hartford in History. 

necticut. Along with this political self-assertion 
have come free speech and free thought, and with 
these the wonderful discoveries in science that 
have worked such changes in human society. 

The charter obtained in 1662, by John 
Winthrop, from King Charles IL, reaffirmed the 
principle of self-government, which pervaded 
the "Fundamental Orders," and granted to the 
people the right to choose their own officers 
without reference to the King. This charter 
merged the independent government of New 
Haven in that of Connecticut, and, at first, 
there was much indignation, but the later judg- 
ment is that the result has been advantageous 
to all concerned. The counties of Connecticut 
were established in 1666, the territory of the 
colony having become so large by the consolida- 
tion as to call for subdivisions for convenience 
in details of government. This charter of 1662 
was in force from its grant until 1818, when 
the present State constitution was adopted. 

In 1686, King James II. sent Sir Edmond 
Andros from England to act as governor of New 
England. Andros arrived in Hartford, October 
31, 1687, and held a meeting in the court cham- 
ber, which was on the second floor of the meet- 
ing-house. There he undertook to obtain pos- 



The Influence of Hartford in Public Affairs. 199 

session of the charter of 1662, which it was 
contended had been revoked by the royal order 
annexing Connecticut to Massachusetts. He 
never secured the document. The candles which 
lighted the room went out, and in the darkness 
Joseph Wads^vorth carried the charter away 
and hid it on theWyllys premises in an oak tree, 
which from that time became famous as the 
Charter Oak. The tree stood until August 21, 
1856, but the usurpation by Andros lasted only 
until Ma\^, 1689, when the people resumed their 
self-government under the charter. The episode 
of the Charter Oak has taken its place in history 
as an illustration of the independent spirit of 
Connecticut citizenship. The tree stood very 
near the spot marked by a marble slab on Char- 
ter Oak hill. 

The legislative government of Connecticut 
Avas comprised in two branches. The people of 
the colonj^ elected assistants or deputies to one 
branch, irrespective of town lines, and the peo- 
ple of the towns elected fellow townsmen as 
representatives in the other branch. The assist- 
ants or house of deputies became later the 
Senate. Town representation and popular rep- 
resentation were thus combined. When the 
constitutional convention of the United States 



200 Hartford in History. 

was in session, in 1787, a deadlock developed 
over the problem of how to protect the small 
States and yet at the same time to recognize 
the people. The wa^'^ out was found in the so- 
called ** Connecticut Compromise," which gave 
each State two members of one legislative body, 
the Senate, and apportioned the membership in 
the other legislative bod3^, the House, according 
to population. This scheme was founded upon 
the dual method of the Connecticut government. 
Our own scheme has, however, since adoption, 
been much changed. At present the towns do 
not all have the same representation nor are the 
senatorial districts now so arranged as to be of 
equal population. The matter has entered into 
politics and belongs here only in its historic 
bearings. But the influence of Hartford in pub- 
lic affairs can not be properh^ set out without 
reference to the large part pla3^ed b^^ the Con- 
necticut Compromise in securing for the people 
of this countr^^ their present constitution, which 
has been the admiration of all students of gov- 
ernment since its adoption. But for this com- 
promise the constitution would probabh^ have 
failed of acceptance. The balance of power thus 
effected secured its adoption and has proved a 
national safeguard. 



The Influence of Hartford in Public Affairs. 201 

A famous incident in the political history 
of Hartford was the Hartford Convention, for 
years referred to v^ith reproach, and usualh^ as 
if it was distinctively a Hartford affair. The 
call for it v^as issued bA^ the Legislature of Mas- 
sachusetts, and of the twent^^-six members 
twelve were from Massachusetts, seven from 
Connecticut, four from Rhode Island, two from 
counties of New Hampshire, and one from 
Windham County, of Vermont. Of the entire 
twenty-six only one, Mayor Chauncey Good- 
rich, v^as from Hartford. They were in session 
from December 15, 1814, to Januar^^ 5, 1815, in 
the State House, now the City Hall. The reso- 
lution of the Massachusetts Legislature was as 
follows : 

Resolved, That twelve persons be appointed as dele- 
gates from this commonwealth to meet and confer with 
delegates from the other New England States or any other, 
upon the subject of their public grievances and concerns ; 
and upon the best means of preserving our resources ; and 
of defence against the enemy ; and to devise and suggest for 
adoption by those respective States such measures as they 
maj' deem expedient; and also to take measures, if they 
shall think proper, for procuring a convention of delegates 
from all the United States, in order to revise the constitu- 
tion thereof, and more effectually to secure the support and 
attachment of all the people, by placing all upon a basis of 
fair representation.. 



202 Hartford in History. 

The invitation, sent out under this resolu- 
tion by the President of the Senate and Speaker 
of the House of Massachusetts, expressly de- 
clared that the action of the convention was not 
to be " repugnant to their obligations as mem- 
bers of the Union." The "public grievances" 
were many and serious. The war of 1812 had 
been forced upon the countr\' against the vote 
and sentiment of New England by the interior 
States, not so interested in commerce or so in- 
volved in the danger of invasion ; and the loss 
of trade and the peril to homes had fallen upon 
those who had opposed the struggle from the 
first. They naturally smarted under such a turn 
of affairs, and, when they found the force of the 
general government exerted so much to their 
disadvantage, these former advocates of a strong 
central government became zealous in favor of 
the rights of the States. The detailed story of 
their troubles is too long to give here. There is 
no doubt that there was much grumbling and 
some loose talk of a peaceful separation at the 
time. (Jefferson himself in 1804 wrote that it 
was immaterial whether we remained one con- 
federacy or broke in two.) The report made by 
the convention was not inflammatory and could 
not be called disloyal. In respect of separation. 



The Influence of Hartford in Public Affairs. 203 

it declared that, if the Union was to be dis- 
solved, the step must be taken in peaceable 
times with deliberate consent, and that the ob- 
jections to *' precipitate measures" were "con- 
clusive. ' ' A certain secrecy that was maintained 
about the convention contributed to its unpop- 
ularity, which, however, lay primarily in the in- 
tensity of feeling that alwa^^s marks war times. 
The high character of the members of the Hart- 
ford Convention seems to have increased the 
hostility to it, instead of abating it. The Hon. 
Simeon E. Baldwin, one of the Connecticut au- 
thorities on historical matters, has written in 
the ''New Englander" that— 

"The history of the Hartford Convention and of the 
fall of the Federal party goes far to demonstrate the real 
attachment of the people, both in and out of New England, 
to the national government.'' 

Beside contributing sixteen governors to 
the State government and sending seven sena- 
tors and twenty congressmen to the general 
government at Washington, Hartford has had 
four members of presidential cabinets — ^John M. 
Niles, Postmaster-general under Van Buren; 
Isaac TouccA^ Attorney -general under Polk and 
Secretary of the Navj^ under Buchanan ; Gideon 
Welles, Secretary of the Navy under Lincoln 



204 Hartford in History. 

through the Civil War, and Marshall Jewell^ 
Postmaster-general under Grant. 

In commercial affairs, Hartford takes espe- 
cial prominence through its vast insurance in- 
terests. One of its fire insurance companies is 
the oldest in the country, another is the largest, 
and the average of them all is larger than the 
average of those of any other place in the coun- 
try. Thory insure, in round numbers, $2,500,- 
000,000 of property. The life insurance com- 
panies also have an immense business in which 
all the country is interested, and the first acci- 
dent insurance company in the United States 
was established here. The oldest and largest 
savings bank in the State is in Hartford, estab- 
lished in 1819. The savings banks of Connecti- 
cut are mutual associations, which take the 
small savings of the thrifty and invest and care 
for them and return the earnings at intervals, 
deducting only the cost of doing the business. 
They have been an important factor in social 
life in this part of the country'. All around the 
world Hartford is known for its Colt revolvers 
and Gatling guns, which, it will be admitted, 
have at times exerted great influence in public 
aft airs. 

The discover3^ of anaesthesia took place in 



The Influence of Hartford in Public Affairs. 205 

Hartford, December 11, 1844, and its effect in 
lessening physical suffering and advancing the 
science of surgery can not readily be overesti- 
mated. It was a blessing to the world. Dr. 
Horace Wells, of Hartford, was the discoverer. 
He attended an exhibition of laughing gas given 
December 10, 1844, b^^ Dr. Colton, for public 
amusement. Seeing that persons under the in- 
fluence of the gas did not notice personal inju- 
ries, he concluded to try its effect for practical 
purposes. Accordingly^, next day he took the 
gas himself until he became altogether uncon- 
scious, and then Dr. J. M. Riggs drew one of his 
teeth. Dr. Wells, when he recovered conscious- 
ness, did not know that the operation had been 
performed. Thus he made the discovery of the 
practical use of anaesthetics and risked his life in 
proving it. The Wells tablet on Main street 
marks the site of the building where the experi- 
ment was tried, and the statue of Dr. Wells on 
Bushnell Park indicates the appreciation by the 
public of his services for mankind. His claim to 
the discovery has been contested, but a full in- 
vestigation of the facts and dates proves con- 
clusiveh^ his right to the honor. 

In literary and educational matters, Hart- 
ford has alwa^^s taken a leading position, as is 



206 Hartford in History. 

shown by another chapter in this history. Trin- 
it3^ College and the old Hopkins Grammar 
School and Hartford High School have sent out 
many graduates who have been men of influence 
through the country; and Hartford men and 
Hartford families are found all over the United 
States. From early days, Hartford has been 
active in colonizing other parts of the cotmtry, 
and no small part of her influence in public 
affairs is the work of Hartford men in the places 
where they have made their homes and carried 
the training and traditions of the historic town 
that was founded by Thomas Hooker in 1636. 

REFERENCES. 
Colonial Records of Connecticut, Vol. I. 
Connecticut Historical Society's Collections, Vol. I. 
Trumbull's Memorial History of Hartford County. 
History of the Hartford Convention, by Theodore 

Dwight. 
Connecticut, b^- Alexander Johnston. 
Insurance in Connecticut, bj^ P. H. Woodward. 
Notes on the History of An.esthesia, bv James Mc- 

Manus, D. D. S. 
American Quarterly Review, March, 1834. 
New England Magazine, March, 1834. 
North American Review. July, 1834. 
Harper's Monthly, July, 1862. 
New Englander, March, 1878. 
International Dental Journal, January, 1895. 



Hartford in the Revolution. 



By Mary K. Talcott. 

BEING so far removed from the sea coast, 
Hartford suffered none of the rigors of ac- 
tual warfare during the Revolution. The 
attempted invasions of Tryon and Arnold were 
beaten back long before they reached the interior 
of the State, and the only armed foreign troops 
the people of Hartford saw were their French 
allies, who passed through the town on their 
way to join the American army on the banks of 
the Hudson. English soldiers were brought to 
Hartford as prisoners in large numbers, as it 
was considered a safe and suitable place for con- 
fining them, and also Tories under suspicion, 
and several English officials, as the Governor of 
the Bahamas. 

One of the most brilliant exploits of the 
whole war, and one of its earliest successes, v^as 
planned in Hartford — the capture of Ticonder- 
oga. Several individuals seeing the great need 
of artillery and stores, and know^ing that the 
forts on Lake Champlain contained plentiful 
supplies, planned this expedition. Samuel 

207 



208 Hartford in History. 

Holden Parsons, Silas Deane, Colonel Samuel 
Wyllys and several others consulted together 
and raised funds, obtaining a loan of £300 from 
the colony treasurer, for which their individual 
receipts with security were given. The commit- 
tee collected sixteen men in Connecticut and then 
proceeded to Berkshire county, Massachusetts, 
where forty or fift^' volunteers were added to 
their small number. At Bennington, Vermont, 
they were joined b^- Ethan Allen, Seth Warner 
and nearly one hundred volunteers. At Castle- 
ton, Vermont, Ethan Allen, a native of Litch- 
field, Connecticut, was chosen commander; 
James Easton, a native of Hartford, was second 
in command, and under these leaders the little 
army proceeded to surprise the fort atTiconder- 
oga, which was captured Alay 10, 1775, by this 
small force of New Engl and ers. The citizens of 
Connecticut, unaided by any other colom^, had 
taken the initiative in conquering the forts on 
Lake Champlain, capturing the garrison and 
carrying the prisoners and munitions of war to 
Connecticut. Among the prisoners was Captain 
Skene, son of Major Skene, governor of Ticon- 
deroga. Crown Point and Montreal, who was 
afterwards captured also and brought to Hart- 
ford. The father and son were kept in an honor- 



Hartford in the Revolution. 209 

able captivity in a private house in the West 
Division (now West Hartford). While there 
^'they together took leave of the Town without 
Liberty," as the Connecticut Courant expresses 
it. The^^ were recaptured and with other pris- 
oners kept in closer confinement. Other forts 
were taken on Lake Champlain, and about fifty 
prisoners, including several officers, were brought 
to Hartford in May, 1775. Later in the 3^ear 
Major Christopher French, H. M. 22nd regi- 
ment, w^as sent to Hartford for safe keeping. His 
journal, w^hich he left behind him at his flight, in 
1776, gives many details of the life in Hartford 
at that time. At first the officers were allowed 
considerable liberty. Major French speaks of 
driving in a sleigh to visit Governor Skene in the 
West Division, and of going to Middletown to 
attend the services of the Church of England, as 
none were maintained in Hartford. But they 
appear to have indulged in freedoms of behavior 
which gave offense, and in the summer of 1776 
thej^ were placed inclose confinement in the gaol. 
In May, 1776, the people of Hartford were much 
disturbed by the election of Governor Skene's 
negro as governor of the blacks. This custom 
of electing a governor, in imitation of the 
whites, had been observed by the negroes for a 



210 Hartford in History. 

number of years, and the fortunate individual 
was always treated with great attention and 
respect by his colored brethren. Governor Cuff 
saw fit to resign, and appointed Governor 
Skene's man as his successor, without holding 
an election. This excited uneasiness in the pub- 
lic mind, lest there might be some plot on the 
part of the British officers, and a committee was 
appointed to investigate the matter. Governor 
Skene's lodgings were searched and his papers 
examined, but the investigation seemed to prove 
that the affair was only meant as a compliment 
to a stranger. In the latter part of 1776 two of 
the English officers escaped, and in this flight 
Major French was assisted by the Rev. Roger 
Yiets, the Episcopal clerg^^man at Simsbury, for 
which oifense Mr. Yiets was tried and sentenced 
to pay £20 to the State and suffer one year's im- 
prisonment. The private soldiers were appar- 
ently encouraged to pursue trades and to receive 
wages therefor. In 1777 about two hundred 
English officers and soldiers, captured at Prince- 
ton, were brought to Hartford, and the com- 
mittee in charge of prisoners gave permission to 
two of the officers to give instruction in arith- 
metic, geometry, trigonometry, and in music on 
various instruments — the violin, flute, French 



Hartford in the Revolution. 211 

horn, etc. It is probable that skilled teachers in 
these arts and sciences were rare, and such an 
opportunity would be eagerly embraced by the 
youth of Hartford. After the surrender of Bur- 
go^me, in October, 1777, a number of his 
soldiers, among them several Hessian officers, 
were sent to Hartford. A Hartford man. Major 
Thomas Y. Seymour, a very brave and gallant 
officer of light dragoons, was detailed to take 
charge of General Burgoyne himself, after the 
surrender, and conduct him to Boston, and per- 
formed this duty so gracefully and acceptably 
that the general presented him with his hand- 
some leopard-skin saddle-cloth and holsters, 
v^ith the pistols, also, and these were long pre- 
served by his family. 

In December, 1776, a detachment of fourteen 
men under the command of an ensign and one 
sergeant were ordered to keep guard about the 
prison in Hartford, to prevent intercourse be- 
tween the prisoners within and the Tories ^th- 
out. 

The selectmen of Hartford petitioned the 
General Assembly, January 8, 1778, that the 
prisoners of war might be removed to some 
other place, complaining that the continuing of 
the prisoners in this town Avas attended with 



212 Hartford in History. 

tnan^Mll effects ; that the public stores and mag- 
azines were greatly exposed ; that intelligence 
was communicated to the enemies of the countr3'; 
that the prices of the necessaries of life — wood, 
bread, meat and clothing — were much increased 
by the British officers and their servants, "who 
do not stick at an^^ sum to obtain the same; " 
and that there was danger of their forming 
combinations with the blacks to injure the lives 
and property- of the people. A number of the 
Tory prisoners were confined in the mines at 
Newgate, in Simsbury, from the beginning of 
hostilities, and man3^ more were sent there dur- 
ing the last years of the conflict. On May 18, 
1781, the Tories then imprisoned there, to the 
number of about twenty-eight, broke jail, killed 
one of the guard, wounded others, and escaped. 
But nearly all were recaptured and taken back. 
In 1781, Congress applied to Governor Trum- 
bull for the use of the mines as a prison "for the 
reception of British prisoners of war, and for 
the purpose of retaliation." But the termina- 
tion of the war prevented the plan from being 
carried into effect. 

That the residents of Hartford at that date 
felt themselves to be living in the midst of war's 
alarms is shown by an examination of the State 



Hartford in the Revolution. 213 

Records, and the columns of the "Connecticut 
Courant." The chief supervision of affairs was 
exercised by the Committee of Inspection. This 
body was substantially identical with the Com- 
mittee of Correspondence and Observation, ap- 
pointed by the town, December 20, 1774, ^when 
a meeting was held to express the s^'^mpathy of 
the inhabitants "with our brethren of Boston 
and the Massachusetts Bay," though the reso- 
lutions open with words of loA^alty to the 
Crown. During the early days of the Revolution 
it was the universal custom to speak of the 
"ministerial forces" and the "ministerial meas- 
ures against America," as if the King were not 
responsible for the doings of the ministers of the 
Crown. This polite fiction shows the dying 
struggles of the feeling of personal loyalt^^ and 
later in the war all titles were dropped, and the 
King was mentioned as plain "George." The 
Committee of Inspection controlled everything 
and everybody. No person could be allowed to 
come from any of the neighboring colonies to 
settle in Hartford without delivering to the 
committee a certificate from the committee of 
the city from whence he came, that he was 
friendly to the rights and liberties of America. 
No person could travel from town to town ex- 



214 Hartford in History. 

cepting those well-ktjown and esteemed to be 
friendly to the American cause, and military 
officers and soldiers, without a permit, and any- 
one who could not produce such a permit, could 
be arrested and committed to jail. The Com- 
mittee of Observation were also expected to ob- 
serve the conduct of all members of a patriotic 
society called the Continental Association, 
banded together not to use English goods, or 
to give aid and comfort of am^ kind to the 
enemy. If any violated the rules of the Associa- 
tion, the committee were to publish the cases in 
the newspapers, and break off all dealings with 
him or her. If any person by writing or speak- 
ing should defame or libel any of the resolves of 
Congress, or of the General Assembly, and should 
be duly convicted thereof, he could be disarmed 
and rendered incapable of holding any office, 
civil or militarA^ and might be further punished 
by imprisonment or fine. In December, 1775, 
two merchants having been convicted by the 
committee of having sold merchandise at an 
unusually high price, contrary to the rules of 
the Continental Association, the committee re- 
solved that no one should have any further 
trade with them until the^- made satisfaction — 
practicalh^ a boAXOtt. In March, 1776, the 



Hartford in the Revolution. 215 

Committee of Inspection met at the State House 
and set certain prices for West India goods, so 
that the merchants should not take advantage 
of the scarcity of supplies, as rum, 3s. 9d. per 
gallon; New England rum, 2s. 4d. per gallon; 
coffee, lOd. per pound, etc. It was also resolved 
that the inhabitants be as sparing as possible 
in purchasing English or India goods, and to 
speedily engage in the manufacture of woolen 
and linen cloths. Occasionally we read of con- 
victions for indulging in tea-drinking, and the 
punishment was severe. Stories are yet told in 
some families of indulgence in the drink that 
''cheers j^et not inebriates " on the sly, and ho^^ 
the teapot and teacups w^ere deposited under the 
bed on the approach of the officers of the law. 

The women were formed into an association 
called the " Daughters of Liberty," and its chief 
object appears to have been to assist each other 
in observing the self-denying ordinances required 
by the patriotic spirit of the time. In the Wol- 
cott Papers may be found a set of resolutions 
promulgated by the "Ladies of Hartford." 
Unfortunately there are no signatures. The fair 
patriots declare that they do not approve of the 
use of "foreign gewgaws and fripperj^," and 
they consider the servile imitations of foreign 



216 Hartford in History. 

fashions as one of the circumstances which op- 
erate to embarrass and distress the countrv-, 
and they therefore subscribe to the following 
articles: That thev will not purchase or wear 
any superfluous articles of dress ; that they will 
not purchase silks, muslins, expensive hats, etc., 
except a single suit for a wedding, or for mourn- 
ing, but for the future would only wear in visits 
and in public places such articles as they had on 
hand, or newly-purchased calicoes ; that they 
will reduce the number and price of articles 
v^hich furnish their tables ; that they will not 
attend a public or private assembly oftener than 
once in three weeks, and that they will use their 
influence to diffuse an attention to industr^^ and 
frugality, and to render these virtues rejDutable 
and permanent. 

In 1775 the "Courant" contains a request 
to the Daughters of Liberty to save carefulh^ all 
linen and cotton "Raggs" of an^^ kind, coarse 
as well as fine, as thej^ were so much needed for 
making that most necessary' article, paper, '' and 
if they are not saved the Streams of Intelligence 
will soon fail." The paper mill in that part of 
East Hartford now Burnside was a very impor- 
tant institution, and its destruction by fire in 
1778 was considered a great misfortune to the 



Hartford in the Revolution. 217 

public, as well as to the owners, and a lottery 
was started to aid in rebuilding it. 

Several executions of spies and deserters 
took place in Hartford, and drew throngs of 
people together. The most noted of these occa- 
sions perhaps was the execution of Moses Dun- 
bar for high treason, in having received a com- 
mission from General Howe, and enlisting men 
for the enemy's forces. The Rev. Dr. Strong 
improved the occasion by a discourse in the 
North Meeting House (the Center Church) to 
the spectators, while the Rev. Mr. Jarvis, of 
Middletown, preached a sermon to the prisoner 
in the jail. 

From the beginning of the war embargoes 
were laid by the General Assembly on various 
articles, including all kinds of provisions, and 
linen and woolen cloth. On the 29th of Febru- 
ary, 1780, twent3^-nine persons were appointed 
to be Inspectors of ProAdsions, to detain and 
secure any embargoed provisions ^vhich they 
might suspect w^ere intended to be carried out 
of the State. 

The most picturesque event in the Revolu- 
tionary annals of Hartford is the meeting of 
Washington and Rochambeau, which took place 
September 21, 1780. General Washington ar- 



218 Hartford in History. 

rived in town first, and was received by the 
Governor's Foot Guard and a company of ar- 
tillery ; a salute of thirteen guns was fired, while 
crowds of people shouted and cheered. He was 
escorted to the house of Colonel Wadsworth, 
which stood where the Athenaeum now stands. 
Count Rochambeau crossed the ferry from East 
Hartford and walked to the public square, ac- 
companied by his suite. Washington came up 
Main Street, accompanied by Governor Trum- 
bull, Colonel Wadsworth, General Knox and 
other prominent officers. As the two tall, fine 
looking commanders-in-chief advanced towards 
each other on the public square, bowing repeat- 
edh% an eve- witness said it was like the meeting 
of two nations. The interview of the two com- 
manders was held at the house of Colonel Wads- 
worth. The following year, 1781, Washington 
and Rochambeau met again, but the conference 
took place at Wethersfield in the W^ebb House. 
In consequence of the plans decided upon at that 
time, the French arm^^left Rhode Island in June, 
and marched across Connecticut, stopping in 
Hartford on the way. After the victorious cam- 
paign of Yorktown, the French army again 
passed through Hartford en route to Newport. 
They encamped in East Hartford, and the name 



Hartford in the Revolution. 219 

of Silver Lane is derived from the kegs of silver 
v^hich were opened there for the purpose of pay- 
ing the troops. 

In 1776, when the English troops attacked 
New York, Connecticut furnished a number of 
regiments for Washington's army. From Hart- 
ford went several companies of foot and three 
regiments of light horse. At different periods 
during the war new levies of troops were en- 
camped in Hartford for the purpose of filling the 
ranks and drilling, and General Gates' division 
of the Continental Army was stationed in Hart- 
ford for some time in 1778. In 1779, at the 
time of the British attack on New Haven, a train 
of artillery w^as sent into the State from Spring- 
field at the request of Governor Trumbull. Three 
brass field-pieces were halted at Hartford, and a 
company of fifteen men was enlisted to exercise 
themselves in their management. This company' 
acquired, under the direction of Colonel Heze- 
kiah Wyllys, considerable skill in the use of the 
field-pieces, and held themselves in readiness to 
march to the defense of the countr3^ 

The treaty- of peace with Great Britain was 
signed at Versailles, January 20, 1783, but the 
news was not known in Hartford until the 27th 
of March, at seven o'clock a. m., when Colonel 



220 Hartford in History. 

Wadsworth received a letter from Philadelphia^ 
dated March 23, containing the information. 
The news was received w^ith great joy. The 
'' Connecticut Courant " says : ''As the express 
came solely to bring the news, and we had no 
doubt of its being true, the inhabitants of this 
town manifested their extreme joy by the firing 
of cannon, ringing of bells, and in the evening 
fireworks and illuminations." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Colonial Records of Connecticut, XV. 

State Records of Connecticut, I. and II. 

Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society^ 
I., containing Papers Relating to the Ticonderoga Expe- 
dition, and Major French's Journal. 

R. R. Hinman's Connecticut in the Revolution, 

Memorial History of Hartford, I. 

R. H. Phelps' Newgate of Connecticut. 

Files of the Connecticut Courant. 



Hartford in the Civil War. 



By Ira E. Forbes. 

THE election of Abraham Lincoln as Presi- 
dent in November, 1860, was regarded by 
the country at large as an event involving 
the abolition of slavery in the States v^hich re- 
tained the system at that time. On the day 
after the national election the withdrawal of 
the Southern States from the Union was advo- 
cated throughout South Carolina. That State 
formally seceded in December. The States of 
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisi- 
ana and Texas united with South Carolina in 
revolt and organized the Southern Confederac3^ 
A constitution was adopted in which slavery 
was incorporated as the organic law. 

President Lincoln was inaugurated March 
4, 1861. Connecticut v^as given a place in his 
cabinet by the appointment of Gideon Welles, of 
Hartford , as Secretary of the Nav3\ The threats 
of the South against the Union culminated April 
12, 1861, in the bombardment of Fort Sumter. 
The fort, commanded by Major Anderson, of the 
United States arm^^ capitulated April 13. The 

221 



222 Hartford in History. 

attack on Fort Sumter became the signal for war 
North and South. The States of Virginia, Ten- 
nessee, Arkansas and North CaroHna joined the 
rebeUion. Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and 
Delaware sided with the North. Two days 
after the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln 
issued a call for 75,000 troops for the suppres- 
sion of the revolt. This call was received with 
great enthusiasm in Connecticut. Governor 
Buckingham lost no time in responding for Con- 
necticut's quota. His summons for troops was 
issued April 16. On the day after a public meet- 
ing was held here which moulded Hartford's in- 
terest in the struggle that was destined to last 
four 3^ears. Lieutenant-governor Julius Catlin 
presided, and the Rev. Dr. Joel Hawes, of the 
Center Church, offered the praj^er atthe meeting. 
The leading citizens took part in the demon- 
stration. Joseph R. HawW, Albert W. Drake 
and Joseph Perkins were the first to offer their 
services in support of the Union cause at the 
front. The First Connecticut regiment was 
organized by April 20, and rendezvoused at New 
Haven. Two da^^s before that event Governor 
Buckingham issued the call for the Second Con- 
necticut. Within five daj^s after the attack on 
Fort Sumter the bankers of this city offered the 



Hartford in the Civil War. 223 

Governor a loan of half a million dollars for meet- 
ing war expenses. The women w^ere as patriotic 
as the men. They offered their services in caring 
for the sick and providing for the wounded on 
the same day that the First regiment w^as sent 
into camp at New Haven. This w^as the begin- 
ning of a work that occupied a large number of 
women and children here through the war. The 
children aided in preparing bandages and lint 
for the wounded in the field. Mrs. S. S. Co wen, 
sister of General Robert O. T^^ler, was the guid- 
ing spirit in the work. Mrs. Joseph R. Hawley, 
a niece of Harriet Beecher Stov^e, cared for the 
soldiers at the front. Her great service w^as in 
aiding the sick and dying Union prisoners of 
war as they were conve3^ed through the lines 
from Southern prisons during the first months 
of 1865, at Wilmington, N. C. The loss of her 
lifew^as attributable to the scenes and exposures 
of this period. The grave of Mrs. Haw^le\' in 
Cedar Hill cemetery is annually decorated with 
flowers by the Grand Armv. 

The First Connecticut regiment of three- 
months' men left for the seat of war, Alay 10, 
1861. George S. Burnham, of Hartford, was 
colonel, and General Hawley w^as in the line, 
holding the captaincx- of the first company. In 



224 Hartford in History. 

a reconnoissanceof the regiment, June 16, under 
General Dan T^der, George H. Bugbee, of Hart- 
ford, was wounded at Vienna, Va. He was the first 
Connecticut man wounded in the ^war. Major 
Theodore Winthrop, of New Haven, was the first 
Connecticut man killed in the war. He was in 
the Seventh New York Militia, and was serving 
as an aid on the staff of General Benjamin F. 
Butler, when he fell at Big Bethel, June 10, 1861. 
Captain James Harmon Ward, who was killed 
while in command of the Potomac flotilla, June 
27, 1861, was the first naval officer from Hart- 
ford vyrho gave his life for the Union. 

There were three Connecticut regiments in 
the first important engagement of the Civil war. 
In the first battle of Bull Run, Hartford was 
represented in the First and Third regiments. 
These troops were among the last to leave the 
field, bearing themselves with courage through- 
out the engagement. The first regiment en- 
listed in this State under the call for three 3^ears' 
troops was the Fourth Infantr)^, which became 
the First Connecticut Heavy Artiller3\ Coh nel 
Levi Woodhouse, of this city, was its first com- 
mander. He had served in the Mexican war 
under Governor Thomas H. Se^^mour. Colonel 
Robert O. T3'ler, a West Point graduate, sue- 



Hartford in the Civil War. 225 

ceeded Colonel Woodhouse. He brought the 
First to a high state of discipline and made it 
one of the foremost artiller^^ commands in the 
Union Sirraj. At the battle of Fredericksburg, 
in December, 1862, Colonel T^der commanded 
the artillery of the center grand division. He 
was at the head of the artillery- reserve at Get- 
t^^sburg, and was brevetted major-general for 
gallant conduct at Cold Harbor. He received a 
sword of great value from the citizens of Hart- 
ford, and a vote of thanks from the Legislature. 
General Tyler died in Boston, Dec. 1, 1874. 
Captain Charles E. Bulkele^', a graduate of Yale 
College, and a member of this noted regiment, 
died, February 13, 1864, while in command of 
Battery Garesche in front of Washington. He 
was the brother of Governor Morgan G. Bulkeley 
and of Lieutenant-governor William H. Bulke- 
ley, both of whom served in New York regi- 
ments. Judge Henry E. Taintor left Yale College 
in order to join this celebrated command, and 
received his diploma from the university on 
account of services at the front. 

General Griffin A. Stedman began his brief 
but brilliant career in the Fifth Connecticut. He 
was a graduate of Trinity College. From the 
Fifth he w^as transferred to the Eleventh Con- 



226 Hartford in History. 

necticut. At Antietam, after the death of Col. 
Henry W. Kingsbury, he succeeded to the com- 
mand of the regiment. He led the charge at 
Antietam bridge, which General Burnside had 
been ordered to capture and hold at all hazards. 
General Stedman met death in front of Peters- 
burg, Va., d^nng on the field at the age of 
twenty-six. He was the soul of chivalry. No 
nobler offering was made on the altar of patri- 
otism during the war. His commission as brig- 
adier-general "was despatched to him from Wash- 
ington the same da3^ on which he fell at the 
head of his troops. Judge E. E. Marvin and 
Major E. V. Preston were also distinguished 
members of the Fifth. Major Preston was ad- 
vanced to a paymastership in the army, and 
disbursed millions of dollars during the war. 
At the end of hostilities his accounts balanced 
to a cent. Judge Marvin commanded the signal 
corps guard on the top of Thoroughfare Moun- 
tain, when the first invasion of the rebel army, 
under General Lee, was signaled to the Union 
forces. At the battle of Cedar Mountain, Aug. 
9, 1862, the Fifth fought with distinguished 
valor, meeting the enemy in a hand to hand 
conflict. In that engagement its colors were 
lost. The men around them were cut down bv 



Hartford in the Civil War. 227 

a merciless fire from the rebel guns. Years after- 
wards through the intervention of Major Preston 
the colors were restored to the regiment bj^ the 
government authorities in Washington, as no 
stain of dishonor had been attached to them in 
the desperate encounter at Cedar Mountain. 

The Seventh Connecticut was known as 
General Hawley's regiment through the war. 
Its colors w^ere the first of the Union army to be 
unfurled in South Carolina after that State's 
act of secession. Albert W. Drake, who entered 
the service with General Hawley, became the 
colonel of the Tenth Connecticut. He gave his 
life for the country, d^ang June 5, 1862, at the 
age of twenty-eight. Henry W. Camp, of this 
city, whose life was written after the war by 
Chaplain H. Clay Trumbull, in "The Knightly 
Soldier," was the adjutant of the Tenth. He 
was a Yale graduate, an officer of undaunted 
courage, and the ideal of honor. 

Captain William H. Sackett, who led his 
company in the Eleventh regiment in the famous 
charge at Antietam bridge, under Colonel Sted- 
man, fell at Petersburg. He was an officer of 
daring spirit. When Captain John Griswold, 
son of Governor Roger Griswold, of Lyme, was 
shot down at the head of his company, in the 



228 Hartford in History. 

middle of Antietam River, while charging the 
enemy's works, Captain Sackett took his place. 

The Twelfth Connecticut was called the 
Charter Oak regiment. Henry C. Deming, who 
was mayor of the city at the time the command 
w^as organized, became its colonel. General L. A. 
Dickinson, who since the war has served as post- 
master of the city, was a line officer in the com- 
mand. Colonel Deming was the onW chief mag- 
istrate of the city who served in the field. Three 
veterans of the war, however, have held the 
office of ma\'or since Colonel Deming's da3^ 
They are Morgan G. Bulkeley, John G. Root 
and Henr^' C. Dwight. 

Colonel Frank Beach, a Hartford West Point 
graduate, commanded the Sixteenth Connecticut 
at Antietam. The field and staff included Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Frank W. Chene3% Major George 
A. Washburn and Adjutant John H. Burnham. 

The battle of Antietam was the cause of 
widespread sorrow in this locality. Many. who 
v^entout from this city never returned from that 
iield, v^here rivers of blood were shed. Nine 
companies of the Sixteenth regiment, under com- 
mand of Lieutenant-colonel John H. Burnham, 
w^ere captured with the garrison at Plym- 
outh, N. C, April 20, 1864. The colors of 



Hartford in the Civil War. 229 

the regiment were not allowed to fall into the 
hands of the rebels, but, torn into strips, were 
carried by the men through Southern prisons for 
months as a sacred trust. In 1879 the remnants 
of these flags were collected from the veterans 
throughout the State, embroidered on a white 
silk ground work, and placed in the Battle Flag 
corridor in the Capitol building. The prison- 
ers of war from the Sixteenth were placed for 
the most part in the stockade prison at Ander- 
sonville, in Georgia, where 14,000 victims per- 
ished during 1864. In this prison, which cost 
the lives of so many Union men, were colored 
soldiers, who had fought in the Union army in 
Florida. The question of exchanging these col- 
ored men became one of vital interest. The 
rebels refused any cartel in which the negro 
Unionists were to be included. Owing to the 
great loss of life in the prison, a petition was 
started, asking for an exchange without refer- 
ence to the negro troops. In this connection 
the sturdy character of the Connecticut men 
displayed itself. One of the first sergeants in 
the Sixteenth, Richard H. Lee, of Granby, be- 
came the spokesman. He took the ground that 
the government could not honorably ignore any 
man, black or white, who ^wore the United 



230 Hartford in History. 

States uniform. The speech bore fruit on the 
spot. It touched the patriotism and the sense 
of justice of every one who heard it. In keeping 
with the line of thought presented b^^ Sergeant 
Lee not a man of the Sixteenth regiment signed 
the petition. Major Henry L. Pasco, of that 
command, who w^as imprisoned at Milan, in 
Georgia, was equally courageous. A number of 
Union officers had escaped from the prison b^^ 
tunneling under the stockade. The authorities 
of the prison discovered one of these tunnels, 
and Major Pasco was ordered b3^ a rebel officer 
to fill it up. When Major Pasco refused to obey 
the order, he was threatened with death on the 
spot. As the Confederate drew his revolver 
with the intention of executing the threat. 
Major Pasco turned his back upon him. The 
defiant Unionist w^as placed in the civil prison 
by the side of a felon and kept there three days. 
Major Pasco claimed the protection of the 
American flag. In the end he was released and 
sent back to his associates, who felt that his 
courage was deserving of the highest approba- 
tion. Major Pasco died here in 1882, and his 
resting place in Cedar Hill cemetery is desig- 
nated by a military monument. 

The Twenty-second regiment was the first 



Hartford in the Civil War. 231 

of the nine-months' troops called from this 
State in 1862. It was commanded by Colonel 
George S. Burnham, who had served at the head 
of the first three-months' regiment. Charles A. 
Jewell was adjutant, and John G. Root, who 
became mayor of the oitj in 1888, was a promi- 
nent line officer in the command. 

The Tw^ent^^-fifth Connecticut was under 
command of Colonel George P. Bissell. At the 
battle of Irish Bend, in Louisiana, Colonel Bis- 
sell led his men with great bravery. In this en- 
gagement William E. Simonds, who became a 
member of Congress from the Hartford district 
after the war, was made a commissioned officer 
on the field on account of personal gallantry 
under Colonel Bissell. Judge Thomas McManus 
was the major of the Twenty-fifth. 

There were two colored regiments from this 
State in the w^ar, the Twenty-ninth and Thir- 
tieth. Hartford was represented in both of 
them. The service of the colored men was in 
no way lacking in courage or loyalty. 

The medical corps of the army was aug- 
mented by able and skillful practitioners from 
Hartford. Dr. Henry P. Stearns, the distin- 
guished authority on insanity, who has been at 
the head of the Retreat for the Insane for vears, 



232 Hartford in History. 

was the first surgeon who entered the service 
from Connecticut. During a part of the war 
he was on the staif of General Grant. Drs. 
Melancthon Storrs, John B. Lewis, Nathan 
Mayer and George C. Jarvis served through the 
war, winning high position and honor in the field. 
Dr. Mayer was in the city of Newbern, N. C, 
through the yellow fever scourge that prevailed 
there in 1864, having the medical department of 
that military post in charge. It required as high 
a type of braver\' to meet the scourge as would 
be necessary in encountering the enemy in battle. 

The Rev. Joseph H. Twichell, pastor of the 
Asylum Hill Congregational Church, was the 
chaplain of the Seventy-first New York, and a 
man of undaunted heroism in the field. He 
dared to go where men dared to fight, bearing 
the ministrations of religion to the wounded 
and the dying. 

The Rev. H. Clay Trumbull, of Philadelphia, 
was the chaplain of the Tenth Connecticut, and 
cared for the men of that command with great 
fidelity. 

The chaplain of the Eighth Connecticut was 
the Rev. John M. Morris, whose home in bo\^- 
hood was in the neighboring town of Wethers- 
field. He W'as the first man in his regiment \vho 



Hartford in the Civil War. 233 

was wounded at Antietam, but he refused to leave 
the field and remained with the troops through 
the day. He was one of the forlorn hope en- 
gaged in laying the pontoon bridge at Freder- 
icksburg in the face of the rebel works w^hich 
controlled the river front during the great battle 
of December, 1862. 

Colonel Robert W. Huntington, of the United 
States Marine Corps, who commanded the first 
American troops landed in Cuba during the war 
with Spain, left Trinity College at the outbreak 
of the Rebellion, enlisting in General Haw^ley's 
three-months' company from this city. Admiral 
Francis M. Bunce, of the United States navy, 
and Major James B. Burbank, of the regular 
arm^^, were both in the war from this city. 
Commander Edward Terr^^, of the navy, was 
also a brave officer, holding important commis- 
sions through the war. 

From the literary side Hartford was repre- 
sented with distinction in the service by Henry 
Howard Brownell, the war poet, and Henr^^ C. 
Work, the most popular song writer of the war 
era. Mr. Brownell v^as a graduate of Trinity Col- 
lege. He was with Admiral Farragut on the flag- 
ship Hartford, at Mobile Ba3^ and wrote "The 
Bay Fight," one of the most stirring lyrics of 



234 Hartford in History. 

the war. His death occurred in East Hartford, 
October 31, 1872. The war song, "Marching 
Through Georgia," was Mr. Work's most char- 
acteristic production. This noted song writer 
of the war died here in 1884, and is buried in 
Spring Grove cemeter\^ His grave is decorated 
by the Grand Army every year. 

The town of Hartford spared no pains in 
caring for the men who went to the war during 
the four 3^ears. It also looked after the families 
of destitute soldiers with the utmost considera- 
tion and liberality. The benefactions of the 
town were administered bj^ committees of citi- 
zens. On the list were the names of Alfred E. 
Burr, General Charles T. Hillyer, Calvin Day, 
James G. Batterson, Judge Nathaniel Shipman 
and Charles Cheney. 

During the four 3^ears the town expended 
$211,779.77 in bounties and compensation on 
account of drafted men and substitutes. Not a 
dollar of the mone\' that was spent in aid of 
soldiers' families is included in these figures. 
There is no wa^^ of ascertaining the amounts 
that were spent in charity. The onh^ thing that 
is known is that liberality towards the families 
of soldiers, which w^ere found to be in need, w^as 
unrestrained b^^ private or public criticism. 



Our City GoYernment. 



By William Waldo Hyde. 

THE original settlement of this neighborhood , 
which we now call the city of Hartford, 
began when the Dutch built a fort on 
what is now known as Dutch Point, being the 
point at the confluence of the Park and Con- 
necticut Rivers. Subsequenth^ the English com- 
ing up the river discovered the desirabilit3^ of 
the present site of the city of Hartford, but per- 
haps influenced by fear of the Dutch the^^^ went 
further north and established themselves at 
Windsor. It was not until 1636, when the Rev. 
Thomas Hooker and a little band of his asso- 
ciates made their v^ay across the country and 
set up here a home for themselves, that Hart- 
ford really began to exist. With their homes 
along the bank of the Little River, where Arch 
street nov^r runs, and their little church in the 
rear of v^here our present post oflfice building 
now stands, they laid the foundations of that 
Hartford which Ave kno^v to-day. 

To these early settlers the lands practically 
belonged in common — not as in the Russian 

235 



236 Hartford in History. 

Commune — but while individual ownership was 
recognized, the control rested in the vote of the 
majority. The situation here varied greatly 
from that in other parts of our country. Here 
the vote of the majority could impose upon in- 
dividual ownership a responsibility or liability 
for such indebtedness as the majority sav^ fit to 
incur; and this remains true to-day, so far as 
towns are concerned. In a Connecticut town at 
the present moment, the property of any indi- 
vidual may be taken for any debt legally in- 
curred by the town. 

The management of the affairs of this old 
town was conferred upon a number of men 
selected by vote of the people, and who were 
therefore called selectmen. This board ordi- 
narily consisted of from three to five members, 
and upon them rested the duties and responsi- 
bilities of the management of the affairs of the 
community. This state of affairs continued 
until 1784, almost 150 3'ears after Thomas 
Hooker and his associates arrived. It then ap- 
peared that the growing population, the in- 
creased business connection with the outer 
world, required that Hartford should have a 
revised method of government. A memorial 
was therefore sent to the General Assemblv ask- 



Our City Government. 237 

ing for a charter for a certain portion of the 
towm of Hartford to provide a better govern- 
ment. Acting upon this petition, the General 
Assembly in 1784 passed an act incorporating 
the cit3^ of Hartford and fixing the limits of the 
proposed city as follows : ''Beginning at a place 
called the Dutch ground, upon the high land on 
the bank of the great river, on the southerly 
side of said river as it now runs in the lot be- 
longing to Thomas Seymour, Esq., and from 
thence a strait line to the northwest corner of 
Joshua Hempstead's dwelling house, thence a 
westerly line to the northwest corner of James 
Steele's dwelling house, from thence a north- 
westerly course to the southwest corner of 
James Shepherd's malt-house, from thence north- 
erh^ a strait line to the upper mills, so called, 
including said mills, thence northerl^^ in a 
strait line to the northwest corner of Captain 
John Olcott's dwelling house, including said 
house, and from thence turning and running 
due east a strait course to the great river." 
This description includes what is practically 
now the center of the city of Hartford. The 
line above described began at a point a short 
distance south of the confluence of Little River 
and Connecticut River, near what is now known 



238 Hartford in History. 

as Dutch Point, and thence ran in a westerl3^ 
direction to the corner of Wetherslield avenue 
and Wyllys street, and thence running along the 
south end of the Httle park known to us as 
South Green, thence the hne ran westerly near 
or about the present layout of Jefferson street to 
the southeast corner of Washington and Jeffer- 
son street, thence northwesterly to a point in 
the north line of Park street opposite the north 
end of Squire street, thence northerh" running 
just west of the Capitol along the ridge to a 
point about three hundred feet north of the 
office of the Park Superintendent on the west 
side of Bushnell Park, thence northeasterly a 
little west of the present layout of High street 
to the corner of Belden street and Windsor ave- 
nue, and thence easterly in a straight line run- 
ning a little west of Avon street through about 
the center of our present Riverside Park to a 
point on Connecticut River which is about a 
thousand feet south of the present railroad 
bridge. The limits thus embraced about 1,700 
acres, a little more than one-sixth of the present 
area of the city. In the charter then granted, 
rights were given to the ma3'or, aldermen, com- 
mon council and freemen of the city of Hartford 
to enact by-laws or ordinances as we nov^ call 



Our City Government. 239 

them, pertaining to the management of the 
affairs of that portion of the town of Hartford 
included within the boundaries mentioned. 

Many of the powers which had previously 
been exercised by the selectmen of the town of 
Hartford were, so far as the territory' included 
within the above boundaries was concerned, 
taken from them and given to the city corpora- 
tion. 

The passage of the act of incorporation oc- 
casioned one very important change in the 
responsibilities of the inhabitants of this terri- 
tor^^ Before the incorporation of the city each 
inhabitant of the town was liable in his indi- 
vidual capacity for the debts of the town legalh^ 
incurred ; but under the charter of the city the 
responsibility for debts incurred by the act of 
the mayor, aldermen and common council Avas 
quite like that of the member of anj^ corporation 
of a private nature. He could be assessed for 
taxes and could be made to pa^^ such assess- 
ments in order that the debts incurred by the 
corporation might be paid ; but he Avas other- 
wise free from responsibility^ so far as liability to 
have his private property taken for the payment 
of the debts themselves. If he paid all his taxes 
as they might be assessed, his liability ended. At 



240 Hartford in History. 

the time the first charter was granted the popu- 
lation of the territor\^ included within the limits 
of the new city was very small. Gradually, 
however, as the years went by, the original 
limits of the cit3^ were extended until to-day the 
limits of the city are coincident with those of the 
town ; and instead of a small territory bounded 
on the Park River and the Connecticut River, 
and having nothing west of Trumbull street 
except farming land, we have a great territory 
extending from Windsor line on the north to 
the Wethersfield line on the south, from the 
Connecticut River on the east to Prospect ave- 
nue on the west, and including within its boun- 
daries a population of from eighty to ninety 
thousands of souls. 

With this extension of limits, many new re- 
quirements have arisen in the way of the grant- 
ing of powers and the performance of duties in 
the carr3dng on of the business of this great cor- 
poration. The mayor, who at first was little 
more than a presiding officer at meetings, has 
become a great executive ofl&cer, who must be 
prepared to act on matters of A^ast moment 
both as to the ph\'sical and the financial devel- 
opment of the city. He must be prepared to 
give, if not the whole, at least the greater part 



Our City Government. 241 

of his time each day to the consideration of im- 
portant questions involving the welfare of thou- 
sands of his fellow citizens. The treasurer, from 
being the recipient of paltry sums, is nov^ the 
custodian of millions of dollars. The collector 
must have about him a large force of clerical 
assistants to enable him to see first that the 
moneys due to the city are collected, and second 
that none of them are lost or wasted. Im- 
portant commissions have become necessary: 
a board of street commissioners, in whose hands 
alone rests the disposition of almost a quarter 
of a million dollars annualh^ ; a board of water 
commissioners, charged with the duty of pro- 
viding our citizens with an ample supply of one 
of the greatest necessities of life, and caring for 
propert3^ of the city which has involved the ex- 
penditure of nearly two and three-quarter mil- 
lions of dollars ; a health department, upon 
whom is imposed the duty of caring for the san- 
itary welfare of this great population ; a board 
of park commissioners, charged with the obliga- 
tion of providing for the v^elfare of our citizens 
by the construction and maintenance of a 
proper system of public parks ; fire commission- 
ers, who, week after w^eek, strive to guard from 
destruction our residences and business houses ; 



242 Hartford in History. 

and police commissioners, whose duty is to pro- 
vide for the safet\^ of hfe and propert3^ In this 
AY ay, from the small beginning of 1784, when 
the "Connecticut Courant," on June 1st, re- 
ported that the General Assembly had passed 
an act incorporating a part of the town of 
Hartford and vesting it with the privilege of 
framing by-laws for certain purposes specified 
in the charter, Hartford has grown to a great 
corporation with all its varied departments to 
whose care the attention of many men other- 
w^ise busily engaged in their own pursuits is 
daily called. 

It is somewhat difficult to make clear to 
those who have not been brought into close 
contact with the details of work in a municipal 
corporation, the exact manner in which the 
v^ork is done. It msiy be made most plain, per- 
haps, In' the following suggestion : 

The maj'or stands in the position of the 
president of a corporation. The board of alder- 
men and common council stand to him in the 
position of directors in this great corporation. 
The boards of commissioners represent assist- 
ants giving their time and attention to aid the 
mayor and his directors — the aldermen and 
common council — in the performance of the du- 



Our City Government. 243 

ties imposed upon them by the charter. All 
important matters must of course first be pre- 
sented to the common council. The\^ are then 
referred in due form to committees appointed 
b\^ themselves, or to the boards of commission- 
ers, to be examined and reported upon. These 
committees or commissioners carefully look into 
the matters thus sent to them and make report 
to the common council. When so presented they 
are duh^ acted upon b^^ the common council, 
who are at perfect liberty to accept or reject the 
recommendations made. After the common 
council has arrived at a decision, it remains for 
the ma^'or to approve or disapprove. In the 
city of Hartford the mayor's veto is not abso- 
lute, but can be overruled b^^ a majorit^^ vote of 
the common council. In fact, however, the com- 
mon council generally supports its presiding 
officer, and if he in the exercise of his wise judg- 
ment determines that their recommendations 
should not become law, and sends them a veto 
giving his reasons for such determination, they 
support him, realizing that he is and must be 
held responsible for the results of the action 
taken, and that therefore he is entitled to their 
support. 

In discussing the question of the growth of 



244 Hartford in History. 

our city, nothing more important attracts at- 
tention than the fact that some of the methods 
which were entirely suitable for the conduct 
and control of cit^^ affairs a hundred j^ears ago, 
or even fifty or twentA^-five years ago, have 
served their day and become obsolete, and 
should be changed. There is, however, a great 
danger that, when suggestions of change are 
made, those whose dutAnt is to assist in making 
such necessar^^ changes sit quietly by, and, with 
the remark upon their lips that what was good 
enough for their fathers is good enough for 
them, refuse to consider or discuss the real prob- 
lem presented. It seems to us, thinking to-day 
of the efforts which have been made and the 
time which has been spent in endeavoring to 
eradicate well-known evils, and remembering 
how those efforts have come to naught, and 
that time has been wasted through the apathy 
of those who should be most interested, and 
their unwillingness to give the necessary atten- 
tion to their consideration, that it is proper to 
impress upon the youth who may read this 
little book the fact that the evils which exist 
remain for their injury only so long as those to 
whom the law gives the right to take part in 
eradicating the same insist upon neglect of both 



Our City Government. 245 

their right and their duty. As the rising gener- 
ation become men and women and are endowed 
with the right to take part in the discussion of 
and make active effort in municipal affairs for 
or against cit^^ abuses, we urge upon them the 
importance of fulfilHng their pubHc duties with 
the same care that the^^do those of private busi- 
ness or of private Hfe. 

In discussing the municipahty of Hartford, 
and in connection with the views just expressed, 
it is interesting to note that during the more 
than a centur3^ which has elapsed since its incor- 
poration, it has not been generally considered 
that the office of chief magistrate of the cit3^ 
was a mere matter of personal preferment. Its 
ma3^ors, from 1784 to 1843, were, with possi- 
bh^ two exceptions, college graduates — men of 
education who were \villing to undertake the 
duties of the position in the hope of being of use 
to the community rather than to themselves. 
From 1784 to 1825, the mayor held his office 
during the pleasure of the General Assembly, 
and since then has held his office for two years, 
b^^ election. Since 1843 we have had fewer 
ma^^ors of collegiate education, but all have 
been devoted to our city's interests. Thev have, 
as a rule, been men of large personal interest in 



246 Hartford in History. 

the progress of the city, and with large private 
business interests, which the^^ were compelled in 
a greater or less degree to ignore in order that 
thcA^ might the better care for the welfare of 
the city. It is a noteworthy fact that the 
mayors of the city of Hartford have, some of 
them, been highh^ honored b^^ the regard re- 
ceived from distinguished men of this and other 
countries. It is interesting to think how the 
first ma3^or, Thomas Seymour, received as his 
guest and the guest of the city of Hartford, the 
Marquis de Lafayette; how Henry C. Deming, 
William James Hamersley and Henry C. Robin- 
son and others honored the city by accept- 
ing the chair of mayor. It is within the 
power of those who are coming forward to 
assist in keeping up this good old fashion and 
so act that the future may be worthy of the 
past. 

There are many things to be done to put the 
management of this great municipal corpora- 
tion in line with that of other corporations of a 
private nature. If the \'Oung men who are nov^ 
approaching manhood will assume in fact the 
responsibilities which they assume in name, the 
Hartford of the next centur3^ Avill occupy no 
lesser position in the ca^cs of the world than 



Our City Government. 247 

did the Hartford of the first half century of its 
existence. 

TOWN AND CITY OFFICERS. 

The city is divided into ten wards. At the 
annual election, held the first Monday in April, 
the following city ofiicers are elected by the peo- 
ple for a term of two years : mayor, town clerk, 
treasurer, collector, auditor, marshal, one alder- 
man from each ward (there are two, but they 
are elected alternately, each for two years) and 
four councilmen from each ward for a term of 
one year. The town clerk, by virtue of his office, 
is also cit3^ clerk. 

The Court of Common Council elects the city 
attorney, prosecuting attorney, port warden, 
sealer of weights and measures and inspector of 
milk and wood, committee on abatement of 
taxes, rate maker, sixty-three city weighers, each 
for a term of one year, and, for a term of two 
years, the four members of the Board of Relief, 
and the recorder of the City Court. 

The Mayor appoints, and the Board of 
Aldermen confirms, the following : the building 
inspector for a term of two years, and, for three 
years, the six members of each of the boards of 
commissioners of charity, fire, health, police. 



248 Hartford in History. 

street and water. The park commissioners 
elect their own successors, w^hose election must 
be certified to by the Mayor and approved b^^ 
the Board of Aldermen. Each board of commis- 
sioners elects its own clerk. The city surve^^or 
and superintendent of streets are appointed by 
the Board of Street Commissioners. 

On the fourth Monday of April, the Board 
of Aldermen is warned b^- the Mayor to meet 
for the choice of not less than seventy nor more 
than 150 jurors of the City Court. 

The Aldermen and Councilmen have their 
joint standing committees on amusements, 
auditing, cemeteries, city buildings, claims, edu- 
cation, fire, manufactures, municipal lighting, 
nominations, ordinances, printing, public baths, 
railroads, water works and ways and means, to 
whom are submitted the several bills, each to 
its appropriate committee, before they are acted 
upon bj^ the members of the council. 

The officers of the Town of Hartford are: 
the town clerk, two registrars of electors, three 
assessors, five selectmen, seven constables, six 
grand jurors, five high school committeemen 
and nine members of the board of school visit- 
ors. These officers are chosen for a term of one 
year, except the assessors and school visitors, 



Our City Government. 249 

whose term of office is three years. They are 
chosen at the anntial election in April, but do 
not enter office until the following June. 

The judge of the Police Court and his assist- 
ant are chosen for a term of two years by the 
General Assembly. 

For further details, see Municipal Register 
of 1898, pp. 7-11 and 680-688. 



The Duties of Citizenship. 

By Charles Dudley Warner. 

THE duties of citizenship are not discharged 
by an enjoj^ment of its privileges. Nor are 
the negative virtues of acquiescence and obe- 
dience sufficient ; those are expected from every- 
one. The good citizen takes an active interest 
in the welfare of his city, and he should not be 
content unless the city is better when he leaves 
it than it was when he came into it. 

Nor does the power and responsibility^ of 
making the city better depend altogether upon 
one's individual ability. In a certain sense the 
reputation of the city is in the care of everyone 
of its inhabitants, even the humblest. By neg- 
lect or bad conduct he can injure its reputation. 
Forit mustnot be forgotten that, however large 
a city grows or however prosperous it is, its 
character depends upon the character of its citi- 
zens. He is not a good citizen of Hartford who 
does an3^thing to impair its good name and its 
splendid historical record. But the citizens, men 
or women, are not doing their dut^', if they do 
not strive to increase the honorable repute of 

250 



The Duties of Citizenship. 251 

the city and its progress in the highest civiHza- 
tion. It is not enough that we should make it 
bigger or richer than it is ; we must strive for a 
higher ideal than material success. 

No citizen can read the record of Hartford 
in this volume without being proud of his inher- 
itance in its history- and its good name. Its 
founders were not only great men in planting 
an orderly, prosperous and virtuous community, 
but in organizing free institutions in this coun- 
try, and in determining the very nature and 
character of our national Union. Patriotic 
love of Hartford, therefore, became patriotic 
love of the Union. It was Thomas Hooker, our 
first leader, who enunciated the doctrine that 
"government derives its just power from the 
consent of the governed." The lessons of pa- 
triotism, of obedience to law, of thrift, of pubHc 
spirit, inculcated by the founders, have made 
Hartford what it is. Our inheritance puts upon 
us great responsibilities. 

One of the first lessons in this record of our 
prosperity is integrity in business. Our growth 
and prosperity have been very largely due to 
our honorable dealing. The great insurance, 
banking and manufacturing interests in and 
under the control of Hartford owe their solid 



252 Hartford in History. 

reputation throughout the country to the in- 
tegrity and common-sense conservatism of their 
managers. Any citizen w^ho departs from this 
integrity not onl\^ injures the good name of the 
city, but impairs its inost valuable capital. 

The situation of Hartford, on a noble river, 
in a valW of unsurpassed fertility and beauty, 
amid scener\^ of uncommon variety and loveli- 
ness, midway between two great cities, to which 
it is easy of access, make it a most desirable and 
favorite place of residence, either for business or 
enjoyment. This situation places upon us the 
responsibility of beautifying the city, and in 
every wa^^ increasing its attractiveness. For in 
this case, at least, beauty is a decided element in 
our prosperit3\ The good citizen will, therefore, 
not only have a care that his own residence, 
factory, shop and place of business is most at- 
tractive, but that the streets, roads and public 
buildings shall notably add to the good appear- 
ance of the city, and that its sanitary arrange- 
ments shall insure, as far as may be, good health 
in all quarters of the town. An essential part 
of this beauty and of the good health of the 
town is in the development of the noble system 
of parks, so that every quarter of the city shall 
have free space for popular recreation. 



The Duties of Citizenship. 253 

Nor can we neglect our institutions and 
as^dums of charity. We have a fine record in 
these — the asj'lum for the deaf-mutes was the 
first established in this country — but science 
makes new discoveries and new demands every 
day, and in order to hold our position we can 
not aiford to be penurious in the provision for 
the sick, the unfortunate and the dependent. 
The modern hospital, for instance, which offers 
facilities for the treatment of disease superior to 
almost any private house, has not yet reached 
its highest development in regard to the health 
of the community. 

But the duty of a good citizen is not dis- 
charged when he has made his oitj beautiful to 
the eye, wholesome as a place of residence, and 
attractive by means of its neat and well-kept 
houses. It must be a city with opportunities 
for cultivation and refinement. The day has 
gone by when mere phj^sical attractions suffice 
in the development of a civilized city. 

Of primary importance to the prosperity of 
a city are its schools. This has alwa^^s been 
recognized in Hartford. The facilities for ob- 
taining a sound education in any city are gen- 
erall3^ weighty in determining the residence of 
those having families to educate. It therefore 



254 Hartford in History. 

comes to pass that good schools in a cit}^ are 
not inferior to any other attractions for the in- 
coming of population. It is not the number of 
schools that is most important, but their char- 
acter. Of course any city is compelled for its 
own preservation to have schools enough to 
accommodate all those who are of school age, 
but the intellectual and moral character of the 
city depends upon the quality of the instruction 
given in them, and it is almost entirely this mat- 
ter of quality that makes the attraction of the 
city for a very considerable portion of the pop- 
ulation. ^' What sort of schools has the town ?" 
is one of the most common inquiries of persons 
contemplating change of residence. Besides, the 
school is the foundation of the State, and there 
is no higher concern for a citizen of Hartford 
than the improvement of its schools year by 
year. 

Indispensable in the life of a great city in 
these times are growing libraries, administered 
so as to reach the humblest inhabitant ; muse- 
ums, historical and industrial and scientific ; 
galleries of painting, sculpture and of the fine 
arts generally; and systematic means for the 
cultivation of the taste for music. A library 
can only meet the wants of a growing city by 



The Duties of Citizenship. 255 

liberal contributions and the constant enlarge- 
ment of its facilities. We have good libraries 
to-da^^ ; if they are not greath^ enlarged thej^ will 
not be sufficient ten years from now. Hartford 
has enough works of art to make a notable gal- 
lery if tliQj w^ere assembled ; the3^ would grad- 
ually drift together if w^e had a place for them. 
The same is true of a museum of objects of his- 
toric association, of scientific interest, or of the 
curiosities of other countries. Undoubtedly a 
general taste for good music is as essential an 
element in the civilization of a city as love of 
flowers, of architecture, of beauty in any form, 
or of good manners. We should not expect a 
city dirty and shabby in appearance and devoid 
of taste in am^ of the things named to have 
good manners. 

The duties of citizenship, therefore, in a city 
with the histor\^ and advantages of Hartford, 
are manifold. I have assumed that the good 
citizen wull be on the side of law and order, and 
that he will not leave the conduct of his local, 
or State, or national politics, or as w^e should 
say, generalh^ public affairs, to be managed by 
the incompetent, or by men merely ambitious 
for selfish purposes. Indeed a^ou can not con- 
ceive a good citizen w^ho is indifferent to public 



256 Hartford in History. 

affairs. True economy in city affairs is alwaj^s 
the result of providence and foresight as well as 
vigilance. In the hands of selfish men or incom- 
petent men, extravagant expenditure in one 
direction is usually accompanied b^^ niggardli- 
ness in matters of the highest importance for 
the welfare of the city. 

Hartford has grown, gradually and without 
much excitement of speculation, from its village 
condition to a beautiful city of charming homes. 
It has grown in solid business enterprises and 
wealth at the same time. The virtues of indus- 
try, thrift and integrity, which made it what it 
is, are still needed to enable it to hold its posi- 
tion, and to keep step with the advance of its 
neighbors, not only in enterprise, but in civility 
and refinement. Upon the bo3^s and girls now 
in its schools will rest in a very few years the 
responsibility of its character and reputation. 
If they are not proud of it, if they are not jealous 
of its honor and solicitous for its beauty, if 
they are not intelligent, honest, industrious and 
have not refinement of taste or of manners, it 
will become, however large it may be, a vulgar 
city. They can no more afford to be indifferent 
to its beauty than to its business interests. For 
a squalid and dirty city, and one without many 



The Duties of Citizenship. 257 

of the elements of noble life, may become rich, it 
never will be an agreeable place of residence or 
one of which its citizens can be proud. 

In its past history, as recorded in these 
pages, Hartford has always furnished men who 
were leaders in State and national politics ; 
men of sagacity and integrity who have given it 
a reputation for soundness in finance and for 
good judgment in business enterprises ; men of 
inventiveness and scientific training who have 
made the city known the world over for ingenu- 
ity and skill ; men enlightened and liberal who 
have built up its noble institutions of education 
and charity. And from the beginning it has had 
an almost unbroken line of men and women 
who were scholars and writers, and who have 
made the reputation of the city for intellectual 
cultivation not second to its reputation for en- 
terprise and v^ealth. 

It is impossible to have a beautiful city 
unless the citizens, old and young, care for its 
beauty ; for instance, the exquisite loveliness of 
Bushnell Park, which is not anywhere excelled, 
would be speedily ruined by the destructive 
habits and vulgarity of men and women who 
were not good citizens, and by the children who 
are not growing up to be good citizens. It is 



258 Hartford in History. 

also impossible that the cit3^ shall be long pros- 
perous or an agreeable place of residence if the 
children now in school are not growing np 
honest and industrious and with some degree of 
refinement. 

No child is too young to be a patriot, or to 
be taught the responsibilities of a good citizen. 
And nothing is more evident than that the 
future character of Hartford depends upon the 
children in its schools. 






Jt INDEX. -Jt 



Adams, Charles H., 155. 

Allen, Ethan, 208. 

Allyn, John, 105, 110. 

Allyn, Matthew, 195. 

Andrews, Charles M., 65. 

Andrews, Samuel J., 148. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, 30, 106, 109, 188, 198. 

Athenaeum, Wadsworth, 163, 192. 

Bachelor, Samuel H., 174. 

Baldwin, Simeon E., 203. 

Barbour Silver Co., 183. 

Barlow, Joel, 139. 

B^jrnard, Henry, 144. 

Batterson, James G., 234. 

Beach, Frank, 228. 

Beecher, Catherine, 143. 

Billings, Charles E., 174. 

Billings & Spencer Co., 179. 

Bissell, George P., 231. 

Blue Laws, 97. 

Boyd, John, 115, 121. 

Brace, John P., 143. 

Brainerd, John G. C, 142. 

Brainard, Leverett, 175. 

Brownell, Henry H., 149, 233. 

Buckingham, William A., 222. 

Bugbee, George H., 224. 

BUILDINGS, PUBLIC, 156; of the Nation, 156; State, 157; 
County, 157; City, 158 ; corporations, 161 ; as art galleries 
and libraries, 164; reading rooms, 167; educational, 167, 
169 ; for sick, 168. 

Bulkeley, Charles E., 225. 

Bulkeley, Morgan G., 225, 228. 

Bulkeley, William H., 225. 

259 



260 Index. 

Bunce, Francis M., 233. 
Burbank, James B., 233. 
Burgess, George, 148. 
Burnham, George S., 223, 231. 
Burnham, John H., 228. 
Burr, Alfred E.. 130, 154, 234. 
Burton, Nathaniel J., 147. 
Burton, Richard, 150. 
Bushnell, Frances L., 150. 
Bushnell, Horace, 146, 194. 

Caligraph Co., 181. 

Camp, Henry W.. 227. 

Capewell, George J., 183. 

Capewell Horse Nail Co., 182. 

CAPITAL, THE, 117; derivation of word, 117 ; called Newtown, 
lis ; why selected, 119 ; by legislative act, 122 ; conflict with 
New Haven, 122, 124; associated with New Haven, 123 ; sole, 
126 ; her State Houses, 128 ; as chief city, 131 ; prosperity of, 
132. 

Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., 175. 

Case, Newton, 174. 

Catlin, Julius, 222. 

CHARTER, THE, 99, 121; why wanted, 100; how obtained, 

100, 103; the duplicate, 103, 104; its custodian, 104; how 
brought to Hartford, 104; boundaries fixed by, 106; cost of, 

101, 106; demand for its surrender, 109; faithfully kept, 110; 
brought into Assembly, 111 ; secreted. 111 ; the original one, 
113 ; revived, 115 ; reaffirmed Constitution of 1639, 198 ; time 
in force. 198. 

Charter Oak, 116, 193, 199. 

Cheeney, Charles, 234. 

Cheney, Frank W., 228. 

CITIZENSHIP, DUTIES OF, 244, 246, 247, 250; rest upon all, 
250; demand integrity-, 251, sanitary cleanliness, 252, sup- 
port of public institutions, 253, systematic means of culture, 
254; for school children, 244, 256. 

CIVIL WAR, THE, 221; call for troops, 222 ; financial support, 
222; women's aid, 223; children's help, 223; departure of 
troops, 223 ; colored troops, 229, 231 ; care for families, 234. 



Index. 261 

Clark, Charles Hopkins, 155. 

Clark, George H., 145, 153. 

Clemens, S. L., 151, 196. 

Colt, Samuel. 173, 179, 194, 204. 

CONSTITUTION OF 1639, 66; character of its makers, 67; con- 
tents, 68; the first, 70, 118; differs from Mayflower Com- 
pact, 71 ; makers' estimate of, 71 ; compared with Charter of 
Mass., 73 ; influence on National government, 80, 188, 197. 

Constitution of 1818, 124; how amended, 125; provides three 
powers, 129. 

Cooke, Rose Terrj^ 149. 

Copeland, Daniel, 172. 

Counties, 198. 

Court, First General, 118. 

Cowen, Mrs. S. S., 223. 

Coxe, Arthur C, 149. 

Davenport, Abraham, 128, 158. 

Day, Calvin, 234. 

Deane, Silas, 208. 

Deming, Henry C, 144, 228, 246. 

Dickinson, L. A., 228. 

Dixon, James, 144. 

Doane, Bishop, 148. 

Dodge, Mary Abigail, 152. 

Drake, Albert W., 222, 227. 

Dunbar, Moses, 217. 

Durham Range, 16. 

DUTCH, THE, 39; in New York, 40; coming of Adrian Block, 
40 ; at Dutch Point, 41, 235 ; their fort. 42 ; purchase of 
lands, 42; "bouwerie," 43 ; trouble with English, 44; leave 
Hartford, 46 ; character of, 46. 

Dwight, Henry C, 228. 

Dwight, Theodore, Jr., 143. 

Easton, James, 208. 
Education, 96. 

Fairfield, George A.. 174. 
Fairfield, John M., 182. 
Fiske, John, 145. 



262 Index. 

French, Christopher, 209. 
Fundamental Orders, 67, 198. 

Gallaudet, Thomas Hopkins, 161. 

GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY, 13; volcanic action. 14, 16, 19; 
origin of trap rock, 14; citA' stone quarries, 17; Portland 
quarries, 18; ash bed. 19; glacial period, 20; glacial 
scratches, 21; 

Gillette, William. 153. 

Glacial period, 20. 

Glacial scratches, 21. 

Goodrich, Chauncey, 201. 

Goodrich, Samuel G., 143. 

Goodwin, William, 30. 60. 

GOVERNMENT, CITY, 235; obligations of land owners, 236, 
239; city limits, 237, 240; incorporation of, 237; duties of 
officers, 240 ; as a corporation, 242 ; duties of citizens, 244, 
246; character of officers, 245; election of officers, 247. 

Griswold, John, 227. 

Griswold, Roger, 227. 

Haddam, 25. 

Haraersley, William J., 246. 

Hanging Hills, 16. 

Hanks, Truman, 171. 

Hartford Convention, 191, 201. 

Hawes, Joel, 187, 222. 

Hawley, Joseph R., 222, 223, 227, 233. 

Hawley, Mrs. Joseph R., 223. 

Hayden, William, 33. 

Haynes, John, 59, 60, 102. 

Hemstead, Joshua, 237. 

Hillyer, Charles T., 234. 

HISTORIC PLACES, 184; Dutch Point, 184; Sentinel Hill, 186, 
194; Ye Square, 186; Palisado, 186; first meeting house, 187; 
Sanford's tavern, 188; Meeting House Alley, 189; school 
house, 189; Bull's tavern, 190; Court house, 191; First 
Church, 191; Wadsworth Elm, 192; Charter Oak, 193; 
Governor St., 193. 

Historical Society, Rooms of Conn., 166. 

Hoadley, Charles J., 42, 121. 



Index. 263 

Hollister, G. H., 64. 

Holmes, John, 185, 194. 

HOOKER, THOMAS, 49, 235, 251; birth, 57 ; education, 57; 
flees to Holland, 58; character, 58; statue, 59 ; reasons for 
coming to Hartford, 29, 62, 78; views of government, 76; 
as author, 136 ; his house, 187 ; dress of, 189. 

Hopkins, Lemuel, 140. 

Hubbard, William, 75. 

Humphreys, David, 140. 

Huntington, Robert W., 233, 

INDIANS, 23 ; purchase of their lands, 24, 29 ; welcome white 
man, 25, 28; location of tribes, 25; number, 26; relation of 
Sequins to other tribes, 27; deed of land, 30; relation to 
Dutch, 31, 44; departure for Pequot War, 32; convention, 
34; Narragansett Plot, 35, education, 37. 

Jarvis, George C, 232. 
Jewell, Charles A., 231. 
Jewell, Marshall, 204. 
Jewell, Pliny, Sr., 176. 
Johnson, Charles P., 150. 
Johns-Pratt Co., 180. 

King Philip's War, 25, 189. 
Kingsbury-, Henry W., 226. 

Lafayette, 190, 192. 

Lake Saltonstall, 16. 

Lamentation Mt., 16, 19. 

Lee, Richard H., 229. 

Leete, Andrew, 113. 

Lewis, John B., 232. 

Lincoln Iron Works, 172. 

LITERATURE, 134; makers of, grouped, 135; of Hartford Wits, 
137; McFingal, 139; Columbiad, 139; Anarchiad, 140; the 
dictionary as, 141 ; classification of, 143 ; learned professions 
in, 144; poetry, 149; in fiction and essay, 150; as patriotic 
force, 150, 153; in drama, 153; in journalism, 154. 

Lockwood, James, 175. 

Long Island Sound, 13. 



264 Index. 

Lord, Horace, 174. 

Love, William DeLoss, 148. 

Ludlow, Roger, 118, 132. 

Machine Screw Co., 180. 

MANUFACTURING, 170; introduction of, 170 ; of books, 171, 
175 ; of cotton and woolen goods, 170, 171 ; the foundry, 
171, 172; of marine engines, 172; of iron, 172; of revolvers, 
173; as an educator, 174; of belting, 176 ; of tools, 177; of 
bicycles, 178 ; of drop forgings. 179 ; of screws, 180 ; of valves, 
180 ; of envelopes, 181 ; of typewriters, 182 ; of wire mat- 
tresses, 182 ; of horse nails, 182 ; of silver ware, 183; of har- 
ness goods, 183. 

Marvin, E. E., 226. 

Mason, Capt. John, 33, 189. 

Massasoit, 24. 

Maj-er, Nathan, 232. 

Meriden, 19. 

Morris, John M., 232. 

McManus, James, 206. 

McManus, Thomas, 231. 

Negro Governors, 94, 209. 
Newgate Mt., 16. 
Newgate Prison, 16, 212. 
New Haven, 20, 41, 128, 131. 
Newington Mt., 17. 
Nichols, Cyprian, 110. 
Niles, JohnM., 203. 

Olcott, John, 237. 

Olmsted, Frederic Law, 152. 

Parker, Edwin P., 147. 
Parker, F. H., 33. 
Parsons, Samuel H., 208. 
Pasko, Henry L., 230. 
Pequot War, 25. 
Perkins, Frederick B., 151. 
Perkins, Joseph, 222. 
Plainville, 16. 
Plimpton Mfg. Co., 181. 



Index. 265 

Pope, Albert A., 178. 

Pope Mfg. Co., 178. 

Porter, David, 91. 

Portland, 18. 

Pratt & Cady Co., 180. 

Pratt, Francis A., 174, 177. 

Pratt & Whitney Co.. 177. 

Prentice, George D., 149. 

Preston, E. V., 226, 227. 

PUBLIC AFFAIRS, INFLUENCE IN, 197 ; by adopting Funda- 
mental Orders, 197; by securing Charter, 198; by keeping 
Charter, 199; on Federal Constitution, 199; in Hartford 
Convention, 201 ; by furnishing lawmakers, 203 ; commer- 
cial, 204; discoverj', 205; educational, 205; colonizing, 206. 

Putnam, Israel, 166, 193. 

Randolph, Edward, 108. 

Retreat for the Insane, 168, 231. 

REVOLUTION, HARTFORD IN THE, 207; for English and 
Tory prisoners, 207, 209 ; Ticonderoga campaign planned 
here, 207; English prisoners as teachers, 210; petition for 
their removal, 211 ; committee of inspection, 213 ; Daughters 
of Liberty, 215 ; execution of spies and deserters, 217 ; the 
French army, 218; furnishing troops, 219; news of peace, 
219. 

Riggs, J. M., 205. 

Robbins, Thomas, 166. 

Robinson, Henry C, 145, 246. 

Rogers Mfg. Co., William, 183. 

Root, E. K., 174. 

Root, John G., 228, 231. 

Sackett, William H., 227, 228. 

Sanford, Zachariah, 188. 

School for the Deaf and Dumb, American, 161, 192. 

School Fund, 116. 

Seymour, Thomas H., 224, 237, 246. 

Seymour, Thomas Y., 211. 

Shepherd, James, 237. 

Shipman, Nathaniel, 234. 



266 Index. 

Sigourney, LA'dia Huntlej', 141, 158, 160, 196. 

Silver Lane, 219. 

Simons, William E., 231. 

Simsbury, 16. 

Skene, Gov., 208, 209. 

Slosson, Annie Trumbull, 152. 

Smith, Norman, 183. 

SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS, 82; dwellings, 83; furniture, 
8-i ; food, 84-; occupations, 85, 87; products, 86; dress, 87 
the church, 89, 97; funerals, 91; marriages, 93, 95; supersti- 
tions, 93; amusements, 94; schools, 96. 

Soldiers' Field, 33, 196. 

South Glastonbury, 16. 

Southington, 16. 

Spencer, Christopher M., 180. 

Stanley, Nathaniel, 110. 

Stannard, Monroe, 177. 

Stearns, Henry P., 231. 

Stedman, Edmund C, 150. 

Stedman, Griffin A., 225, 227. 

Steele, James, 237. 

Stone, Samuel, 30, 32, 59, 60. 

Stone quarries, 17. 

Storrs, Melancthon, 232. 

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. 150, 196, 223. 

Stuart, Isaac W., 145. 

Taintor, Henry E., 225. 

Talcott, John, 105, 110. 

Talcott Mt., 16. 

Taylor, John M., 153. 

Terry, Edward, 233. 

Theological Seminary, 155, 168, 175. 

Ticonderoga, 189, 207. 

TiflFany, E. D., 175. 

Totoket Mt., 16, 18. 

Toucey, Isaac, 203. 

Trap rock, 14. 

Treat, Robert, 108. 

Trinity College, 17, 19, 155, 167, 195, 206, 225, 233. 



I 






Index. 267 

Trumbull, Benjamin, 64. 

Trumbull, Gurdon, 152. 

Trumbull, Henry Clay, 152, 227, 232. 

Trumbull, James Hammond, 26, 81, 145. 

Trumbull, John, 137. 

Trumbull, Jonathan, 212. 

Turnbull, Robert, 147. 

Twichell, Joseph H., 147, 232. 

Tyler, Dan, 224. 

Tyler, Robert O., 223, 224. 

Uncas, 23, 34. 
Underhill, John, 45. 

Viets, Roger, 210. 
Voting, right of, 61. 

Wadsworth, Daniel, 163. 

Wadsworth, Jeremiah, 162, 165, 192, 218. 

Wadsworth, Joseph, 111, 113, 121, 188, 189, 193, 199. 

Walker, George Leon, 65, 81, 148. 

Ward, James H., 224. 

Warner, Andrew, 60. 

Warner, Charles Dudley, 151, 196. 

Washburn, George A., 228. 

Washington, George, 190, 217. 

Watkinson, David, 163. 

Watkinson Librarj^ 166. 

Webster, Noah, 141, 175, 192. 

Weed Sewing Machine Co., 178. 

Welles, Gideon, 203, 221. 

Wells, Horace. 195, 205. 

Weslej-an University, 19. 

Western Reserve, 116. 

Wethersfield, 26, 31, 118. 

Whiting, Amos, 174, 177. 

Whiting, Wm., 108. 

Whittier, J. G., 149.159. 

Wilcox, Carlos, 143. 

Willard, Emma, 142. 

Williams, John, 149. 



268 



Inde:> 



Windsor, 25, 31, 118, 185. 

Winthrop, Theodore, 224. 

Winthrop, Gov. John, 102, 120, 198. 

Wolcott, Henry, 77. 

Wood, William, 164. 

Woodhouse, Levi, 224. 

Woods, E. S., 164. 

Woodward, P. H., 206. 

Woodruff & Beach Iron Works, 172. 

Work, Henry C, 233, 234. 

Woven Wire Mattress Co., 182. 

Wyllys, George, 115. 

Wyllys, Hezekiah, 219. 

Wj^llis, Samuel, 105, 208. 

Yale University, 19. 
Y. M. C. A., 169. 



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